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• 

eography  and  geology  of 
Fergus  county. 

by 

Otis  Y.'illard  Freeman 


efcna*a,P<u>.    -   s^b.    ivi    ~ 


e» 


Fergus  County 
HIGH  SCHOOL 


BULLETIN  2 


GEOGRAPHY 
and  GEOLOGY 

OF  FERGUS  COUNTY 


. 


BY  o.  w.  freeman 


.' 


I  i  wis  1 1  )wn,  Montana 
1919 


PREFACE 


This  Geography  and  Economic  Geology  of  Fergus  County  is  intended 
to  furnish  information  upon  a  variety  of  subjects.  It  is  hoped  that  it 
will  be  of  use  in  the  public  schools  to  the  casual  reader,  and  to  the  student. 
A  large  amount  of  research  was  devoted  to  securing  the  historical  data  and 
correct  origin  of  geographic  names,  and  the  author  expresses  his  sincere 
thanks  for  assistance  rendered  him  by  many  citizens  of  Fergus  County  in 
securing  this  information,  especially  to  R.  von  Tobel  and  W.  A.  Hedges. 
Thanks  are  also  due  the  Bureau  of  Agriculture  and  Publicity  at  Helena 
for  the  plate  used  in  printing  the  map  of  Fergus  County  and  to  the  Cook- 
Reynolds  Co.  for  permission  to  use  several  half  tones.  Superintendent 
P.  V.  Cardon  of  the  Moccasin  Experiment  Station  gave  some  excellent  sug- 
gestions for  the  chapter  on  soils  and  their  effect  on  agriculture. 

There  has  been  a  constant  demand  for  general  information  regarding 
the  geology  and  mineral  resources  of  the  county,  and  practically  every 
mine,  prospect  and  corner  of  the  county  has  been  visited  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  report.  Lack  of  space  forbade  a  more  detailed  report,  and 
those  in  search  of  detailed  information  are  referred  to  the  special  reports 
listed  in  the  bibliography  that  contains  the  more  useful  of  the  publications 
on  the  county.  Publications  of  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  were  of  much  value 
in  the  preparation  of  the  chapter  on  Geology.  The  author  is  willing  at 
all  times  to  furnish  any  further  information  that  may  be  in  his  possession 
and  to  co-operate  with  anyone  interested  in  the  lines  covered  by  the  report. 
Those  wishing  a  copy  of  this  report  can  obtain  it  gratis  by  addressing  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Fergus  County  High  School  at  Lewistown,  or  the 
principal  of  the  institution.  The  author  requests  the  forbearance  of  the 
reader  of  this  bulletin,  as  it  was  prepared  under  the  stress  of  many  other 
duties,  and  was  seriously  hampered  by  the  incendiary  fire  that  destroyed 
photographs,  halftone  engravings  and  much  data  that  had  been  gathered 
for  use  in  the  bulletin.  If  any  reader  can  furnish  further  information 
about  the  early  history,  geography  and  mineral  resources  of  the  county, 
they  are  urged  to  communicate  such  information  to  the  author  or  other 
instructors  connected  with  the  High  School,  as  it  is  hoped  to  make  the 
institution   a  clearing  house  of  accurate  information  about  the  county. 

This  is  the  second  bulletin  to  be  issued  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Fergus  County  High  School,  Bulletin  No.  l  was  published  over  a  decade 
ago  on  the  "Bird  of  Fergus  County"  and  the  author  was  Mr.  P.  M.  Slllo- 
way,  a  former  principal  of  the  High  School 

The  fire  that  destroyed  the  school  liuldiriK  last  year  unfortunately  also 
destroyed    almost    .ill    of    the    COpiei    of    this    bulletin.      Other    bulletins    are 

planned  for  the  future  on  the  "History  and  Crrici  of  ETergui  County,"  etc. 
The  writer  wishes  to  commend  the  long-elghted  wisdom  and  broad  mind- 

edness  of  the   Board  of  Trustees  shown   liy  I  heir  effort!  to  disseminate   local 
information  by  means  of  these  bulletins. 


SOS 197 


LIST  OF  CHAPTERS 


Chapter  I. 

Area,  Location,  Physical  Features  and  Development  of  Fergus  Co Page      9 

Chapter  II. 

Towns  and  Cities  of  Fergus  County Page   12 

Chapter  III. 

Rocks  and  Mineral  of  Fergus  County Page   15 

Chapter  IV. 

Geology  of  Fergus  County Page   22 

Chapter  V. 

Metal  Deposits  of  Fergus  County  and  Their  Development Page   28 

Chapter  VI. 

Mineral  Fuel  Resources  of  Fergus  County  and  Their  Development. ...Page   3  7 

Chapter  VII. 

Non-Metallic    Minerals    Other    Than    Fuels Page   42 

Chapter  VIII. 

Picturesque    Fergus    County Page   46 

Chapter  IX. 

Climate  and   Ground   Water Page   51 

Chapter  X. 

The  Soil  of  Fergus  County  and  Its  Influence  on  Agriculture Page   56 

Chapter  XI. 

Geographic  Influences  in  Fergus  County Page   59 

Chapter  XII. 
Origin  of  the  Geographic  Names  in  Fergus  County Page   62 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


GENERAL — 

Fergus  County  Argus,  August  15     1913,  special  Historical  Edition. 

Lewis  and  Clark's  Journal,  edited*  by  Twaithes. 

"Montana,"  191S  and  previous  years  published  annually  by  Bureau  of 

Agriculture  and  Publicity  at  Helena. 
Booklets   on   Montana   and   the  Judith    Basin,   published   by   the   Great 

Northern   Railway,   C,   M.   &   St.   Railway,   Lewistown   Chamber  of 

Commerce,  etc. 
Montana  Historical  and  Pioneer  Society.     Volumes   1-8. 
Mineral    Resources   of   U.    S.,    published   annually   by   U.    S.    Geological 

Survey,  Washington,  D.  C. 

SPECIAL — 

Bowen,    C.    F. — Coal    discovered     between     Musselshell     and     Judith. 

Bull.    541    H.,    39-47    U.    S.    Geological    Survey,    1914. 
Burke,   Edmund     and   Pinckney,    R.    M. — Report   on   Montana   Climate. 

Bull.  99,  Mont.  Agri.  College  Exp.  Station,  Bozeman,  1914. 
Calhoun,   F.    F.   H.— Montana   Lobe   of   the   Keewatis   Ice    Sheet,    Prof. 

Paper  50,  U.   S.   Geol.  Survey,   1906. 
Calvert,    W.    R. — Geology    of   the    Lewistown    Coal    Field.      Bull.    390, 

U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,   1909. 
Donaldson,  N.  C. — Cereal  experiments  at  the  Judith  Basin  Substation. 

Bull.   398,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  Washington,   1916. 
Fisher    C.  A. — Geology  of  the  Great  Falls  Coal  Field,  Montana.      Bull. 

356,  U.   S.  Geol.   Survey,   1909. 
Freeman,   O.   W. — Montana,   a   Stury   of   the   Geographic   Factors   Influ- 
encing the  State.      Bull.,  Geog.   Soc.  of   Philadelphia,  Vol.    12,  Oc- 
tober,  1914. 

The  North  .Moccasin  Mountains  of  Montana,  Min.  A   Eng,  World,  Vol. 

42,  May  22.  191  5,  !'.  9  17-949. 

Sapphire    .Mines   of    Yogo,    Molilalia.    Min.    &    Sci.    Press,    Vol.    110    Ma] 

22,    1  91  5,   P   800-802. 

Gold   Mining  in   the  Judith    Mountains,   Montana.  Min.   A   Sci.   Press, 

Vol.   112,  June   1".    L916,   P    81 

Geographic  influences  Affecting  Distribution  of  Population  and  Char 

actor    of     hniu:  i ties     in      Montana,      tnter-Mountaln     [Educator, 
January,    1 8 1  6. 

Gypsum  and  Lime  industry  In  Central  Montana,  B2ng    A   Min    World. 

Vol     16     Oct     ii.    L916,    P.    66 

Mineral    Prospects   in    Fergus   County,    Montana,    Eng     &    Min    Joui 

Vol     103,    P.    660  662,    April    l  I.    L917. 

New    Three    Forks    Cement     riant     Conci  at     Mill     Edition, 

Ma  rcli.   1918,   P    80  81 

The  i.  iiv  -.i   the  Brick,  Piaster  and  Cement   industries  of  Mon 

tana     inter  Mountain  Educator,  June,  1918,  P    Lfl 
Harding,  s.  T.     irrigation  Development  In  Montana.     Bull.  I1'.''-.  Mont 
Agri    Col  ta      Bozeman,   i  B 1 5 

Hoyt,    B.     K        The    Judith     Mountains,     Montana.     Min      A      Eng      World, 

Vol.    1 1 .  Nov.  21,   1914,   P 


-Gold   Hill   Section   of   the   Maiden    District,     Montana,     Min.     &     Eng. 
World,  Vol.  42,  January  23,  1915,  P.  171-172. 

Pirsson,  Louis  V.,  Igneous  Rocks  of  the  Highwood  Mountains.  Bull 
287,   0.  S.  Geol.  Survey. 

Rowe  J.  P.,  Some  Economic  Geology  of  Montana.  Bull  50,  Univer- 
sity of  Montana,  Missoula. 

Stanton,  T.  W..  Hatcher,  J.  B.  and  Knowlton,  F.  H.,  Geology  and 
Paleontology  of  the  Judith  River  Beds.  Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Sur- 
vey,  257,   1905. 

Stebinger,  Eugene — Possibilities  of  Oil  and  Gas  in  North  Central  Mon- 
tana.    Bull  641-C,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1916. 

Stephens,  J.  M. — Fergus  County  Substation  Work  and  Plans.  Agri. 
Col.  Exp.  Station,  Bull.   93,  Bozeman,  1913. 

Weed  W.  H. — Geol.  Atlas,  U.  S.,  Fort  Benton,  folio   (55),  U.  S.  Geol. 

Survey  1899. 
-Geol.  Atlas  U.  S.,  Little  Belt  Mountains,  folio   (56),  U.  S.  G.  S.,  1899. 

Weed,  W.  H.,  and  Pirsson,  L.  V.,  Geology  and  Mineral  Resources  of  the 
Judith   Mountains;    18th   annual   report,   Part     III.,     U.    S.     Geol. 
Survey,  P.  440-616,  1896. 
-Geology   and   Mineral   Resources   of   the   Little   Belt   Mountains,    20th 
Annual  Report,  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Part  III.,  P.  257-258,  1899. 


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GEOGRAPHY  AND  ECONOMIC  GEOLOGY 
OF  FERGUS  COUNTY 


CHAPTER  I. 
Area,  Location,  Physical  Features  and  Development  of  Fergus  County. 

Fergus  County  is  in  the  center  of  the  State  of  Montana.  It  has  an 
area  of  about  7,300  square  miles  and  is  the  largest  county  in  the  state. 
It  is  almost  as  large  as  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  Its  greatest  length 
is  about  122  miles,  or  nearly  as  far  as  from  New  York  to  Albany,  and 
its  greatest  width  is  about  78   miles. 

The  center  of  Fergus  County  is  about  109  west  longitude  and  47 
north  latitude.  The  Missouri  River  forms  the  northern  boundary  of  Fergus 
County  and  the  Musselshell  River  forms  the  eastern  boundary;  Arrow 
Creek  forms  part  of  the  northwestern  boundary;  Chouteau,  Blaine  and 
Phillips  Counties  lie  to  the  north;  Garfield  County,  and  a  few  miles 
of  Rosebud  County  to  the  east  of  Fergus.  Musselshell,  Wheatland  and 
a  corner  of  Meagher  Counties  bound  Fergus  on  the  south,  and  Cascade 
on  the  west.      More  counties  touch  Fergus  than   any  other  in   the   state. 

The  county  forms  a  part  of  the  Great  Plains  Province,  in  which  is 
included  the  eastern  two-thirds  of  Montana.  The  lowest  altitude  is  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell  River,  about  2,300  feet,  and  the  highest, 
on  the  summit  of  the  Snowy  Mountains,  over  8,600  feet.  Lewistown 
has  an  altitude  of  abut  3,900  feet,  which  is  a  little  over  the  average 
for  the  county.  The  Big  Snowy  Mountains  extend  about  25  miles  on 
the  southern  boundary  of  the  county.  The  Judith  Mountains  are  in 
about  the  middle  of  the  county  and  reach  an  elevation  of  over  6,000 
feet,  nearly  half  a  mile  above  the  plains  about  their  base.  West  of 
the  Judiths  a  few  miles  are  two  small  isolated  mountain  groups,  the 
North  Moccasins  and  the  South  Moccasins.  A  connected  series  of  high 
hills  extend  south  from  the  Judiths  to  Alaska  Bench  east  of  the  Big 
Snowy  Mountains  and  are  known  collectively  as  the  McDonald  Creek 
Divide.  A  very  wooded  country  is  found  east  and  northeast  of  the 
Big  Snowy  Mountains,  which  has  been  rather  Inaptly  named  the  Little 
Snowies.  Black  Butte,  nearly  6,000  Feel  high,  east  of  the  Judiths,  forms 
a  prominent  landmark  for  Hasten)  and  Northern  Fergus  County.  The 
Little  Belt  Mountains  are  found  In  Southwestern  Fergus  and  their  main 
eastward  extending  ridge  forms  part  of  the  boundary  of  Fergus  County. 
Over  the  line  in  Chouteau  County  are  the  sharp  peaked  Hlghwood  Moun- 
tains with  flat-topped  Squire  Butte  east  Of  them,  which  forms  the  most 
t'amous  landmark  of  Central  Montana  Across  the  Missouri,  the  Bear- 
paw  and  Little  Rocky  Mountain!  are  visible  from  half  of  Fergus  County 

Western     FergUS    County     is    almost     surrounded     by     mountains    and     form 

the  widely  known  Judith  Basin      Between  the  Little  Bell  and   Big  Snowy 

Mountains  is  Judith  Cap,  which  Is  the  most  practicable  route  north  and 
pouth  for  automobiles  or  railroads  between  Tyler  and  Nelhart,  a  distance 
of  about  90  miles  an  auto  road  could  be  built  in  the  ralley  between 
Alaska    Bench    and    the    Big    Snowies    without     much    trouble    that    would 


—10 — 

make  a  good  outlet  for  the  north  side  of  Musselshell  County  for  trade 
and  communication  with  Lewistown. 

Outside  the  mountains  the  usual  surface  of  the  county  is  composed 
of  extensive  benches,  slightly  sloping  for  miles  from  the  mountains  to- 
wards the  main  drainage  lines,  or  especially  in  Eastern  and  Northern 
Fergus,  of  a  gently  rolling  country,  with  broad  valleys.  The  Missouri 
and  Musselshell  Rivers  have  entrenched  themselves  several  hundred  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  Great  Plains,  and  steep  breaks  or  badlands  have 
thus  developed  between  the  benches  and  the  valley  flats  or  broad  plains 
commencing  to  be  formed  along  the  rivers.  The  tributaries  to  the 
large  rivers  have  often  cut  back  for  many  miles  into  the  benches,  eroding 
them    into    extensive    badlands. 

The  Judith  River  is  the  chief  stream  that  has  its  source  in  Fergus 
County.  It  rises  in  the  Little  Belts  and  flows  across  the  Judith  Basin 
into  the  Missouri.  Its  chief  tributaries  on  the  east  are  Big  Spring,  Ross 
Fork  and  Warm  Spring  Creek;  Running  Wolf  and  Sage  Creeks  are 
of  the  most  importance  on  the  west.  Arrow  Creek  rises  in  the  Highwoods, 
and  Dog  Creek  has  its  source  in  the  North  Moccasin  Mountains.  Both 
empty  into  the  Missouri  a  few  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Judith,  in 
Northwestern  Fergus.  The  chief  streams  of  Eastern  Fergus  are  Flat- 
willow,  McDonald  and  Box  Elder  Creeks,  which  rise  mainly  in  the  Snowy 
and  Judith  Mountains  and  unite  a  few  miles  above  where  Flatwillow 
empties  into  the  Musselshell  in  Southeastern  Fergus.  Armells  Creek 
flows  from  the  Judiths  northeast  to  the  Missouri.  Crooked  Creek  drains 
Northeastern  Fergus  and  flows  into  the  Musselshell  about  two  miles 
from  where  it  empties  into  the  Missouri. 

The  rich  well  grassed  valley  of  the  Judith  River  furnished  an  ideal 
range  for  the  buffalo.  It  was  sheltered  from  the  blizzards  of  the  plains 
by  the  surrounding  mountains,  and  was  a  favorite  resort  of  the  Indians. 
French  Canadian  fur  traders  were  probably  the  first  representatives  of 
the  white  race  to  visit  Montana,  and  a  few  of  them,  led  by  De  la  Verendye, 
explored  Central  Montana  in  1743.  Lewis  and  Clark's  expedition  ascended 
the  Missouri  River  in  1805  and  discovered  and  named  the  Musselshell  and 
Judith  Rivers  in  May  of  that  year.  Many  trappers  and  traders  followed 
this  expedition  and  trapped  and  hunted  beaver,  wolves  and  buffalo  for 
many  years.  Small  forts  were  established  near  the  mouth  of  the  Judith 
River  in  1832  and  1842,  but  were  abandoned  after  a  few  months.  After 
the  discovery  of  gold  at  Virginia  City  and  Helena,  steamboat  traffic  greatly 
increased  on  the  Missouri  River.  During  periods  of  low  water  the  boats 
were  unable  to  ascend  the  river  to  Fort  Benton  and  their  cargoes  were 
landed  at  Cow  Island  and  Fort  Musselshell,  and  hauled  by  bull  teams 
across  the  Judith  Basin  through  Judith  Gap  to  White  Sulphur  Springs, 
and  thence  over  the  Belt  Mountains  by  way  of  Diamond  City  and  Canyon 
Ferry  to  Helena.  As  a  result  of  trouble  with  the  Sioux  Indians,  Fort 
.Musselshell,  which  had  been  founded  in  1866,  was  abandoned  in  1874 
as  a  trading  post  and  steamboat  landing  in  favor  of  Carroll,  at  the 
present  site  of  Wilder. 

Commencing  in  the  sixties,  freighters  often  wintered  in  the  Basin, 
being  attracted  by  the  splendid  growth  of  grass,  and  by  the  seventies 
there  were  several  well  recognized  camping  sites  in  the  county,  as  at 
Camp  Lewis,  at  the  junction  of  Big  Casino  and  Big  Spring  Creeks.  Many 
stockmen    and    miners    came    into    the    county    in    the    late    seventies    and 


-11 — 


early  eighties  and  several  little  settlements  were  started.  Reed's  Fort, 
on  the  site  of  Lewistown,  was  built  in  1873  and  a  postoffice  established  in 
1880.  Soon  after  this  the  original  townsite  of  Lewistown  was  platted  from 
part  of  F.  A.  Janeaux's  homestead,  and  since  only  a  few  people  were 
expected  to  live  there,  a  fence  was  takn  as  a  starting  point,  with  the 
result  that  the  streets  of  Lewistown  do  not  run  with  the  compass.  The 
discovery  of  gold  at  Yogo,  in  the  Belt  Mountains,  led  to  a  rush  there  in 
1879,  but  the  deposits  proved  disappointing  and  the  town  was  soon  prac- 
tically abandoned.  Maiden  was  founded  in  1S80  as  a  result  of  gold  be- 
ing discovered  there.  Fort  Maginniss  was  built  in  1880  and  garrisoned 
with  U.  S.  troops  to  protect  the  cattle  and  sheep  men  from  the  Indians. 
Old  Cottonwood,  Philbrook  (four  miles  from  the  site  of  Hobson),  old 
Stanford  (about  two  miles  from  present  site),  Grass  Range,  old  Geyser 
(just  over  the  line  in  Cascade  County),  Oka,  Ubet,  Bercail  (just  south 
of  Judith  Gap),  Utica,  Maiden  and  Lewistown  were  the  chief  centers 
where  the  ranchers  of  the  eighties  could  purchase  supplies,  and  the  cow- 
boys and  miners  buy  strong  drink  or  satisfy  their  taste  for  gambling. 
Gilt  Edge  was  started  in   18  93   when  gold  was  discovered  there. 

Until  the  construction  of  the  Montana  Railroad  (called  the  "Jawbone") 
to  Lewistown  in  1905,  goods  were  freighted  into  the  Judith  Basin  country 
from  Fort  Benton,  Helena  and  Billings.  From  1880  to  1905  mining  and 
stock  raising  were  the  chief  industries  in  Fergus  County.  Since  then 
grain  gowing  has  proved  to  be  a  very  profitable  enterprise,  and  thousands 
of  homesteaders  came  into  the  county.  In  the  last  15  years  the  greater 
part  of  Fergus  County  has  been  homesteaded  and  little  excpt  vry  rough 
land  remains  open  to  entry.  Several  branch  railroads  have  been  built 
primarily  to  haul  the  grain  to  market  and  many  cities  and  towns  have 
been  founded  as  supply  centers  and  grain  shipping  points  for  the  farmers. 

Fergus  County  was  organized  in  1885  and  included  the  territory  be- 
tween the  Musselshell  and  Missouri  Rivers.  Musselshell  County  was 
formed  in  1912  and  included  thai  part  of  Fergus  County  south  of  the 
Snowy  Mountains.  Our  county  was  named  after  James  Fergus,  one  of 
the  pioneer  stockmen,  who  settled  at  Armella  n   1880. 


I  \  i'i    m    MODKHN   i:i  i:  u.  school. 


— 12 — 

CHAPTER  II. 

Cities  and  Towns  of   Fergus  County. 

The  population  of  Fergus  County  in  1919  is  over  40,000  compared 
with  17,385  in  1910,  6,937  in  1900  and  3,514  in  1890,  when  Fergus 
County  included  much  of  what  is  now  Musselshell  County. 

The  Great  Northern  Railway  between  Billings  and  Great  Falls  runs 
through  Fergus  County  with  a  branch  to  Lewistown  from  Moccasin.  This 
branch  will  soon  be  extended  east  from  Lewistown  200  miles  to  connect 
with  the  Great  Northern  extension  in  Dawson  County,  which  is  completed 
to  Richey.  The  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad  has  a  branch 
from  Harlowton  to  Great  Falls  passing  through  the  county.  From  Lewis- 
town,  branches  of  the  Milwaukee  extend  east  to  Winnett  and  north  to 
Hilger    and    Winifred,    with    another    branch    from    Hilger    to    Roy. 

Lewistown,  the  county  seat  of  Fergus  County,  has  a  population  of  8,000. 
It  has  paved  streets,  municipal  water  system,  and  remarkably  fine  office 
buildings,  churches  and  public  buildings  for  a  city  of  its  size.  The  county 
fair  is  held  annually  in  Lewistown.  There  are  four  public  schools  and 
one  county  high  school,  three  newspapers  and  a  monthly  magazine. 
Lewistown  has  four  banks  with  combined  resources  of  over  $7,000,000. 
There  are  four  wholesale  houses,  two  creameries,  a  brick  yard,  concrete 
tile  works,  flour  mill,  railroad  repair  shop,  planing  mill,  good  hotels  and 
many  modern  stores,  garages,  lumber  yards,  etc.,  that  carry  very  com- 
plete stocks.  South  Lewistown  is  at  the  Milwaukee  Railroad  yards.  Seven 
miles  west  of  Lewistown  at  Hanover,  is  a  large  new  portland  cement 
plant  and  a  gypsum  wall  plaster  mill. 

Moore  has  a  population  of  about  700.  It  is  on  the  Milwauke  Railroad 
and  is  the  trading  center  for  a  very  rich  farming  district.  It  is  a  modern 
city  with  good  schools  and  churches,  newspaper,  strong  banks,  large  ele- 
vators and  up-to-date  stores.  Glengary  is  a  small  grain  shipping  point 
between  Lewistown  and  Moore. 

Garneill  and  Straw  are  small  towns  on  the  Milwaukee  Railroad,  south 
of  Moore,  and  are  situated  in  rich  farming  districts. 

Denton  has  a  population  of  over  600  and  is  the  largest  city  in  North- 
western Fergus  County.  It  has  two  newspapers,  flour  mill,  four  eleva- 
tors, good  schools,  banks  and  store  buildings  and  many  modern  resi- 
dences.     An    immense    amount    of    wheat    is   annually   shipped    from    here. 

Coffee  Creek  has  a  population  of  about  200.  It  has  four  elevators  and 
is  an  important  shipping  point  for  wheat  and  trading  center  for  the 
ranchers  of  the  Arrow  Creeek  bench.  Amherst,  Ware,  Danvers  and  Hoosac 
are  railways  stations  and  trading  points  of  local  importance  betkeen 
Lewistown  and  Denton.  Arrow  Creek,  beyond  Denton,  is  also  a  shipping 
point  for  grain.  Everson  is  a  small  trading  point  28  miles  north  of 
Denton. 

A  number  of  good  towns  are  found  along  the  Great  Northern  through 
the  Judith  Basin.  Buffalo  is  the  center  of  an  excellent  farming  district 
in  the  southern  part. 

Hobson  is  in  the  center  of  the  Judith  Basin  and  has  a  population  of 
about  400.  It  has  a  flour  mill,  elevators,  newspaper,  good  schools,  banks 
and  stores.  Utica,  12  miles  west  of  Hobson,  is  an  old  town,  founded 
in  the  days  of  the  cattlemen.  A  splendid  farming  country  lies  between 
Hobson  and  Utica. 

Moccasin  and  Benchland  are  good  small  towns  on  the  Great  Northern 


—13— 

and  are  important  grain  shipping  points.  Moccasin  has  a  population  of 
about  250  and  considerable  business  is  done  there.  The  Great  Northern 
branch  to  Lewistown  starts  there.  The  largest  town  between  Moccasin 
and  Lewistown  is  Hanover,  which  has  a  population  of  about  350  and 
is  a  company  town,  built  by  the  Three  Forks  Cement  Company.  The 
cement  plant  and  gypsum  mill  provide  employment  for  about  125  men. 
Kolin  and  Ross  Fork  are  important  grain  shipping  stations. 

Windham  is  a  town  of  about  300  and  is  in  a  good  farming  country. 
It  has  stores,  newspaper,  bank,  elevators,  etc.  Lehigh  is  a  coal  mining 
town,  five  miles  from  Windham.  It  has  a  population  of  nearly  1,500, 
making  it  the  second  largest  cbmmunity  in  Fergus  County.  The  Cotton- 
wood Coal  Company  operates  two  mines  there  with  an  output  of  1,000 
tons  daily,  which  is  mostly  used  by  the  Great  Northern  Railway.  Six 
hundred  men  are  employed  in  the  mines.  Lehigh  is  a  company  town 
and  the  company  retains  ownership  of  the  buildings.  It  has  a  bank, 
good  stores,  hospital,  large  coal  washing  plant,  etc.  A  branch  railroad 
connects  it  with  Windham. 

Stanford  is  an  important  city  in  Western  Fergus  County.  It  has 
a  population  of  500.  Stanford  has  good  stores,  banks,  newspaper, 
churches,  city  hall,  elevators,  etc.  There  is  excellent  farm  land  around 
it.  Dover  and  Merino  are  stations  on  the  Great  Northern,  west  of 
Stanford. 

North  of  Lewistown  on  the  Milwaukee,  Hilger,  population  300,  is 
an  important  trading  and  shipping  center.  It  is  the  railway  station  for 
Kendall,  (population  400),  a  good  mining  town,  five  miles  west.  Two 
mines  at  Kendall  are  operating  and  produce  about  half  a  million  dollars 
of  gold  a  year.  The  mines  at  Kendall  have  produced  in  all  about  $9,000,000 
:'n  gold.  There  is  excellent  farming  and  grazing  contributary  to  Hilger, 
and  to  Brooks,  which   is  10   miles  north  of  Lewistown. 

Christina  and  Suffolk  are  small  towns  on  the  railroad  between  Hilger 
and   Winifred,   and   Armells   is   between   Hilger   and   Roy. 

Winifred  is  a  city  of  about  400  inhabitants  and  the  terminus  of  the 
Hog  Creek  branch  of  the  Milwaukee.  An  Immense  grain  growing  and 
stock  raising  territory  is  tributary  to  Winifred.  The  town  was  started 
in  1913  and  now  has  banks,  elevators,  Stores  and  substantial  business 
blocks. 

Roy  has  a  population  of  about  ."..">'»  and  is  ill.'  terminus  of  a  branch 
of  the  Milwaukee  from  Hilger.     a  great   area  of  grazing  and  agricultural 

land  extends  for  miles  around  Roy.  It  is  an  important  trading  and  ship- 
ping town  and  mucfa  business  Is  done  there  Valentine  is  25  miles  east 
of  Roy  and  is  a  good  small  town,  in  the  mid  t  "i  many  undeveloped  re- 
irces.  Lack  of  transportation  bolda  bach  development  The  country 
north  of  Roy  ami  Valentine  ba  been  bom<  teaded  *ery  extensively  in 
the  past  ii        ear       Llndstrom  It    a  po  tofflce  between  Roj  and  Valentine 

Maiden,    in    Urn    In-art    of    the   Judltfa    Mountains,    an. I    (Jilt    Edge,    18    mil. 

northeast   of   Lewistown,  are  old   gold   mining   towna      While   they   iho* 
many  evidences  "i              of  the  mining  Industrj   yel   mines  ami  milla 
still  operated  ami  a   production  ol    nearly  a  quarter  ol   a   million  doll 
in   gold   i     reached   annually       Iboul    |10, ,1 in   gold    ba     been    pro 

duced   from    Ho-  gold    mint       In   tb(    I     towns. 


—14— 

There  are  two  important  cities  east  of  Lewistown,  on  the  Milwaukee 
Railroad.   Grass   Range   and   Winnett. 

Grass  Range  (population  300),  has  banks,  newspapers,  elevators,  hotels, 
creamery,  Hour  mill  and  good  stores.  It  is  the  trading  point  for  a  big 
farming  and  good  stock  country.  Forest  Grove  is  a  small  town  on  the 
railroad  between  Lewistown  and  Grass  Range.  Teigen  is  between  Grass 
Range  and  Winnett.  Cheadle  and  Novary  are  east  of  Lewistown,  on  the 
Great    Northern    extension. 

Tyler  is  a  small  settlement  about  15  miles  south  of  Grass  Range,  in 
Southern  Fergus  County. 

Winnett  is  a  modern  city  of  450  inhabitants,  and  the  present  terminus 
of  the  Milwaukee  railroad.  Two  large,  private  irrigation  projects  are 
in  successful  operation  within  a  few  miles  of  the  city,  and  vast  acreage, 
suitable  for  the  growing  of  spring  wheat  and  corn,  is  available  for 
farming  by  dry  land  methods.  Smith  is  a  postoffice  about  12  miles 
east  of  Winnett  on  the  proposed  extension  of  the  Great  Northern  and 
the  Milwaukee.  Flatwillow  is  a  postoffice  about  15  miles  south  of 
Winnett. 


N  BAR  RANCH. 


— 15— 

CHAPTER  III. 

Rocks    and    Minerals    of    Fergus    County. 

The  rocks  of  Fergus  County  include  both  igneous  and  sedimentary. 
The  sedimentary  rocks  include  both  oceanic  and  terrestial  sandstone,  con- 
glomerate and  limestone,  besides  shale,  coal,  gypsum  and  volcanic  ash. 
The  igneous  rocks  include  both  extrusive  and  intusive  types.  The  High- 
woods  consist  chiefly  of  old  volcanoes  built  of  lava  flows  but  are  outside 
the  boundary  of  Fergus  County.  The  extrusive  rocks  in  the  county  are 
volcanic  deposits  along  Arrow  Creek,  near  the  Highwoods.  Intrusive  igne- 
ous rocks  are  of  many  types.  Those  of  the  Judiths  are  fully  described  by 
L.  V.  Pirsson  in  the  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  U.  S.  Geological  Survey, 
pages  557-587;  those  of  the  Little  Belts  in  the  Twentieth  Annual  Report 
U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  pages  463-581,  and  those  of  the  Highwoods  in 
Bulletin  257.  Those  interested  in  a  complete  description  of  the  rocks  are 
referred  to  these  reports.  The  chief  igneous  rocks  will  be  described 
very  briefly  in  this  bulletin. 

The  igneous  rocks  intrduded  sedimentary  strata  in  the  form  of  lac- 
coliths, stocks,  sills  and  dikes.  The  laccoliths  chiefly  intrude  Cambrian 
and  Mesozoic  shales  and  cause  an  arching  up  of  the  overlying  strata  to 
form  great  domes.  Laccolithic  intrusions  account  for  the  Judith  and 
Moccasin  Mountains  and  for  Square  Butte,  Cone  Butte,  Wolf  Butte,  Black 
Butte  and  for  some  peaks  in  the  Little  Belts.  In  stocks,  the  igneous 
rocks  have  broken  across  the  sedimentary  rocks  more  than  uplifting  them 
and  the  intrusions  are  larger.  Big  Baldy  Mountain,  Yogo  Peak  and 
Woodhurst  Mountain,  in  the  Little  Belts,  and  Judith  Peak,  in  the  Judiths, 
result  from  stocks.  Sills  are  igneous  intrusions  along  bedding  planes  of 
sedimentary  rock  and  are  common  in  the  Moccasins  and  Judiths.  Dikes 
are  rather  vertical  intrusions  that  fill  cracks  in  the  sedimentary  or  other 
igneous  rocks.  They  occur  in  the  Judiths  and  Little  Belts  and  are  very 
common  around  the  Highwoods  radiating  out  in  all  directions  from  the 
mountains.  A  few  igneous  dikes  occur  in  Northern  Fergus  County,  near 
the   Missouri   River. 

Except  for  a  few  dark  colored,  basic  dikes  along  the  Missouri  and  the 
sapphire  bearing  dike  at  Yogo,  the  igneous  rocks  are  of  an  acid  char- 
acter usually  low  in  linn-,  iron  and  magnesia  arid  an;  Light  colored  in 
appearance.  They  are  high  in  silica,  often  7 a  per  cent.  Feldspar  is  a 
common  mineral  constituent  ami  often  orthodase  is  found  in  very  well 
developed  large  crystals,  which  results  in  the  rock  being  classified  as  a 
porphyry.  The  igneous  rocks  include  granite,  rhyolite,  syenite,  diorite 
and  phonollte  porphyries  in  the  .ludths  and  granite,  diorite  and  phono- 
lite  and  rhyolite  porphyries  in  the  Moccasin  The  rhyolite  porphyry  1h 
often  called  "quartz  porphyry"  ami  is  the  most  common  rock  of  the 
mountains,  syenite,  granite,  diorite,  monzonite  and  shonklnlte  por 
phyries  are  found  in  the  intrusive  bodies  of  the  Little  Belts  The  rocks 
of   Square    Butte    ami    of    the    phonollte    dikes   of    the    Judiths   are    high    in 

potash    and    other    alkal  'I  he    most     common     Igl i       rockl    in    the 

mountains  consist  of  quartz,  orthoclase,  feldspar  and  biotlte  mica  and 
is  rather  easily  decomposed  and  di  Integrated  by  the  sreather,  ho  that 
good   exposures  are   few. 


—16 — 

MINERALS. 
Elements. 

Few  native  elements  have  been  found  in  Fergus  County.  Gold  is 
by  far  the  most  important  metal  found.  Usually  the  gold  ores  contain 
no  visible  gold,  but  rich  pockets  in  the  Spotted  Horse  and  other  mines 
at  Maiden  were  filled  with  both  free  gold  and  tellurides  of  gold. 

Some  placers  contained  native  gold  in  Alpine  Gulch  and  on  Armells 
Creek  inthe  Judiths,  in  the  North  Moccasins,  and  at  Yogo,  in  the 
Little  Belt  Mountains.  Gold  is  a  soft  metal  and  it  is  nearly  19  times  as 
heavy  as  water.  No  crystals  of  gold  have  been  found.  Gold  occurs  in 
small  veins  in  igneous  rock  and  in  replacement  deposits  along  the  con- 
tact of  limestone  and  intrusive  porphyry.  No  native  silver  has  been 
found,  but  a  small  specimen  of  native  copper  was  picked  up  as  float  in  the 
North  Moccasins.  It  was  probably  formed  by  reduction  from  the  original 
sulphides. 

Among  non-metals,  graphite  and  sulphur  occur  in  the  native  state 
in  Fergus  County,  but  not  in  commercial  deposits.  Graphite  is  only 
about  twice  as  heavy  as  water  and  is  quite  soft.  It  is  black  in  color  and 
has  a  black  streak.  It  is  found  at  Black  Butte,  where  it  was  formed 
by  Cretaceous  coal  being  metamorphosed  by  being  brought  into  contact 
with  intrusive  igneous  rock.  The  graphite  is  compact  but  will  not  burn. 
Coal  is  very  common  in  the  Kootenai  and  Judith  River  formations  and 
occurs  in  thin  beds  in  other  formations.  Small  amounts  of  native  sulphur 
have  been  observed  in  moist  black  shale  of  the  Ellis  formation  and  Cre- 
taceous shales  where  it  probably  results  from  the  reduction  of  gypsum. 
It  is  whitish  yellow  in  color,  insoluble  and  light  in  weight.  It  burns  with 
the  characteristic  odor  of  burning  sulphur.  The  sulphur  has  been  found 
near  the  head  of  McDonald  Creek  and  small  traces  in  the  badlands. 

Sulphides  and  Tellurides. 

Argentite  or  silver  glance.  Silver  sulphide  crystallizes  h.  eubes  and 
octahedrons,  but  good  crystals  are  seldom  found  in  Fergus,  although 
common  at  Neihart,  in  the  Little  Belts.  It  is  blackish  gray  in  color  and 
streak  and  has  a  metallic  luster.  Argentine  occurs  with  lead  and  zinc 
sulphides,  and  has  been  found  near  Gilt  Edge,  Maiden  and  Armells,  in 
the  Judiths;  Wolf  Creek,  in  the  Little  Belts,  and  in  the  Moccasins.  .  The 
total  production  of  silver  in  Fergus  County  is   probably   $30,000-$40,000. 

Galena  is  the  lead  sulphide.  This  is  the  important  ore  of  lead  and 
usually  contains  silver  and  zinc  in  Fergus  County  and  often  a  little  cop- 
per. Crystallizes  in  cubes  and  octahedrons,  but  usually  found  in  dissemin- 
ated masses.  Galena  possesses  perfect  cubical  cleavage,  has  a  bright  me- 
tallic luster  and  a  lead  gray  color  and  streak.  The  mineral  is  easily 
scratched  and  is  7%  times  as  heavy  as  water.  Galena  has  been  found 
chiefly  in  pockets  as  a  replacement  of  limestone  near  the  contact  with 
intrusive  porphyry.  Occurs  at  Cave  mine,  on  Armells  Creek;  War  Eagle, 
at  Maiden;  West  Kendall,  in  the  North  Moccasins;  Hardly  Able,  in  the 
South  Moccasins;  near  Gilt  Edge,  in  Cone  Butte  district,  and  on  Wolf 
Creek,  in  the  Little  Belts.  Probably  over  $100,000  in  lead  has  been  pro- 
duced from  Fergus  County  mines,  all  of  which  were  small. 

Spalerite,  zinc  blend  or  black  jack.  Zinc  sulphide  crystallizes  in  cubes 
and  tetrahedrons  but  crystals  are  very   rare  in  Fergus  County,   where   it 


— 17 — 

is  usually  found  with  massive  galena.  Harder  and  lighter  in  weight  than 
galena.  Usually  has  a  metallic  luster  but  it  may  be  resinous.  Color  is 
brown  or  black  and  the  streak  is  light  yellowish.  Spalerite  often  is 
found  with  galena  in  Fergus  County  as  near  Gilt  Edge  and  on  Wolf 
Creek,  in  the  Belts,  and  on  the  Hardly  Able  and  War  Eagle  properties. 
It  is  unwelcome  to  the  miner  as  when  present  in  considerable  amounts 
it  interferes  with  the  smelting  of  the  lead.  Hence  the  smelters  penalize 
such  ores  instead  of  paying  for  their  zinc  content.  The  result  is  that  the 
mining  of  lead  zinc  ores  has  usually  proved  unprofitable  in  the  county  and 
the  total  production  of  zinc  has  been  valued  at  only  a  few  thousand  dollars. 
A  large  output  of  zinc  ore  is  now  coming  from  the  mines  at  Neihart, 
in  Cascade  County  and  is  being  used  by  the  new  wet  process  zinc  re- 
finery in  Great  Falls.  Probably  some  of  the  zinc  ores  of  Fergus  County 
are  suitable  for  use  in  this  plant. 

Chalcopyrite,  copper  iron  sulphide.  Medium  hard  mineral  and  over 
four  times  the  weight  of  water.  This  mineral  has  a  metallic  luster  and 
a  brassy  yellow  color,  often  appears  iridrescent.  It  has  a  tetragonal 
crystallization.  It  has  been  found  on  Armells  Creek,  in  the  Judith  Moun- 
tains. The  original  copper  deposits  in  Fergus  County  were  probably  sul- 
phides, but  they  have  been  usually  oxidized  to  silicates,  oxides  and  car- 
bonates, and  are  developed  insufficiently  to  expose  the  sulphides  that  pos- 
sibly underlie  the  weathered  portion. 

Pyrite,  Fool's  gold  or  iron  pyrites,  iron  disulphide.  Small  pyritic 
veins  in  porphyry  sometimes  carry  small  amounts  of  gold  which  by 
weathering  produce  small  placers  as  in  Alpine  Gulch  and  the  south  slopes 
of  the  North  Moccasins.  Hard  as  a  steel  knife.  Sp.  Gr.  is  about  5. 
Occurs  in  cubes  whose  faces  are  often  striated  and  sometimes  in  octrahe- 
drons  and  pyritohedrons.  Often  found  in  masses  and  as  thin  flakes  in 
coal  beds.  The  color  is  pale  brass  yellow  with  a  metallic  luster.  Pyrite 
is  harder  than  chalcopyrite  and  paler  in  color.  It  is  brittle.  It  is  easily 
altered  to  oxides  of  iron.  Pyrite  originally  accompanied  the  gold  deposits 
of  the  mountain  groups,  but  in  itself  is  of  no  economic   importance  here. 

Sylvanite,  the  gold  silver  telluride,  calaverite,  the  telluride  of  gold  oc- 
cur in  the  mines  at  Maiden  associated  with  fluorite.  The  tellurides  are 
soft,  heavy,  Sp.  Gr.  8-9.  They  have  a  metallic  luster  and  silver  white 
color.  The  crystallization  is  monoclinic,  but  few  distinct  crystals  have  been 
found.  The  structure  is  bladed  or  granular.  Gold  tellurides  probably 
also  occur  at  Gilt  Edge  and  Kendall,  but  not  In  crystallized  forms.  Most 
of  the  gold  originally  existed  as  tellurides  but  by  the  decomposition  of 
the  ores  much  of  the  gold  was  set  free,  although  it  can  seldom  be  seen  in 
the  old.     The  total  production  of  gold  In  Fergus  County  is  over  $18,000,000. 

The  compounds  of  silver,  antimony,  arsenic  and  sulphur  occur  at 
Neihart,  in  th<;  Little  Belts,  but  have  doI  been  identified  from  Fergus 
County    ores. 

A  small  amount  of  nickel  bus  been   reported   from  a  copper  prospect 

on  Armells  Creek    in   the  Judiths.      It    is   probably   in   the   form    of   the   BUl 
phide,    millerite. 

Sulphates. 

Small  amounts  of  barium  bave  been  reported  from  rocks  of  Fergus 
County  but  crystals  of   harite   have   not    been    found 

Gypsum  is  the  hydrated  form  of  calcium  sulphate.  When  calcined 
or  1 1  •  • ;  1 1 .  •  r  |    most    of  its  w.-iter  Of  Crystallization   is  driven   off  and   it    is  changed 


— 18 — 

to  plaster  of  paris.  Gypsum  is  a  soft  mineral,  usually  whitish  and  it 
varies  from  transparent  to  opaque.  It  occurs  in  two  ways.  First  in 
thick  massive  beds  as  at  Hanover  and  Heath,  and  secondly,  as  dissem- 
inated crystals  in  the  black  Cretaceous  shales  of  Northern  and  Eastern 
Fergus  County.  Gypsum  crystals  are  usually  flat  and  diamond  shaped. 
The  crystals  have  good  cleavage  planes  and  can  be  split  into  thin  pieces 
which  makes  gypsum  resemble  mica.  Gypsum,  however,  is  brittle,  while 
mica  is  elastic,  so  it  is  easy  to  distinguish  between  the  two.  Gypsum 
crystals  are  often  striated  by  the  solvent  action  of  water.  Gypsum  dis- 
solves rather  freely  in  water  and  causes  permanent  hardness  of  water. 
Gypsum  has  little  effect  on  plants  and  can  sometimes  be  added  to  alkali 
soils  with  beneficial  effect  as  it  reacts  with  the  alkali  and  forms  harmless 
salts.  Gypsum  is  mined  at  Hanover  and  used  for  making  wall  plaster. 
A  small  quantity  is  also  used  as  a  retarder  in  Portland  cement.  A  new 
gypsum  plant  will  soon  be  built  at  Heath. 

Chlorides,  Etc. 

Halite,  common  salt,  sodium  chloride,  occurs  in  much  ground  water 
in  Fergus  County  and  in  alkaline  ponds,  and  is  the  chief  constituent  of 
"white  alkali"  deposits  where  it  is  often  accompanied  by  magnesium 
and  potassium  salts.  Alkaline  salts,  near  Square  Butte,  have  assayed 
28  per  cent,  potash,  but  the  deposits  are  mere  incrustations  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground  and  were  formed  by  the  evaporation  of  water  that 
had  dissolved  them  in  the  ground.  Research  has  so  fair  failed  to  show 
that  any  alkali  lakes  or  deposits  in  Montana  contain  enough  potash  to 
make   its    extraction    profitable. 

Fluorite  or  Fluor  Spar.  Calcium  fluoride  is  of  medium  weight  and 
hardness.  Crystallizes  in  cubes  but  it  is  usually  found  in  massive  purple 
aggregates  associated  with  gold.  Fluoritic  gold  ore  occurs  at  Maiden 
and  often  assays  hundreds  of  dollars  a  ton.  It  was  probably  formed  by  the 
action  of  hydrofluoric  acid  on  limestone. 

Oxides. 

Quartz,  silicon  dioxide.  Harder  than  steel  and  two  to  six  times  as 
heavy  as  water.  It  crystallizes  in  6  sided  prisms  that  usually  terminate  in 
rhombohedrons  that  resemble  pyramids.  It  occurs  in  many  of  the  igne- 
ous rocks,  in  most  metal  deposits  and  as  sand  and  standstone.  It  is 
usually  grayish  white  in  color.  Quartz  has  glassy  luster  and  conchoidal 
fracture.  Agate,  flint  and  petrified  wood  are  some  forms  of  quartz.  Petri- 
fied wood  results  from  a  slow  replacement  of  wood  in  the  earth  by  quartz 
carried  there  by  ground  water.  The  wood  itself  is  not  changed  to  stone 
but  is  carried  away  very  slowly  and  the  quartz  replaces  it. 

Cuprite,  cuprous  oxide  occur  in  small  quantities  in  copper  deposits  in 
the  Judiths.      It  is  heavy,  red  in  color  and  earthy  in  appearance. 

Corundum,  aluminum  oxide  occurs  in  the  form  of  Sapphire,  at  Yogo, 
int  the  Little  Belt  Mountains.  The  sapphires  are  almost  all  blue,  but 
sometimes  are  whitish  or  yellow.  Sapphire  is  next  to  the  diamond  in 
hardness.  It  is  infusible  and  insoluble  and  has  a  Sp.  Gr.  of  4  The  crystals 
are  flat  prisms  and  rhombohedrons.  They  occur  in  a  dike  of  dark  igne- 
ous rock  which  is  the  chief  source  of  sapphires  in  the  world.  Most  of 
the  "sapphires"  picked  up  in  the  surface  gravels  of  Fergus  County  are 
quartz. 

Hematite,    iron   oxide    occurs   in    Fergus   County   in    the   gold    mines   in 


—19— 

the  Judiths  and  Moccasins  and  in  red  sandstone  bluffs,  etc.,  where  it 
has  resulted  from  the  oxidation  of  pyrite  and  perhaps  other  iron  minerals. 
It  is  massive  or  earthy  with  a  red  streak,  and  yellow,  red  or  brown  in 
color.  Often  forms  a  gossan  to  copper  deposits.  A  large  hematite  de- 
posit occurs  on  Woodhurst  Mountain  and  on  Wolf  Creek,  in  the  Little  Belts. 

Pyrolusitc,  manganese  dioxide,  is  a  soft  black  mineral.  It  occurs  in 
small  quantities  on  the  Sutter  claims  on  Armells  Creek,  and  on  Wolf 
Creek,  in  the  Little  Belts,  associated  with  pyrite  and  galena  Manganite, 
which  is  a  hydrated  form  of  manganese,  may  also  be  present. 

Ijimonite.  The  hydrated  oxide  of  iron  occurs  in  the  mines  of  Maiden, 
Gilt  Edge  and  Kendall.  It  is  brownish  in  color  with  a  yellowish  streak. 
Springs  emerging  from  red  sandstone  and  igneous  rocks  often  have  dis- 
solved iron  which  they  deposit  as  limonite  or  bog  iron  ore.  Small  plants 
called  algae  probably  assist  this  process.  Many  small  deposits  have  re- 
sulted about  Lewistown  and  elsewhere  and  a  large  deposit  is  found  on 
Armells  Creek  which  might  possibly  be  of  economic  importance. 

Magnetite,  Fe304,  occurs  in  small  quantities  in  some  of  the  igneous 
rocks  of  Fergus  County  but  has  not  been  found  as  an  important  mineral. 

Carbonates. 

Caleite,  calcium  carbonate,  is  one  of  the  most  common  minerals  in 
Fergus  County.  Crystallizes  most  commonly  in  rhombohedrons,  six-sided 
prisms  and  six-sided  pointed  pyramids.  The  mineral  shows  perfect  rhom- 
bohedral  cleavorage.  It  is  easily  scratched  with  a  knife  and  so  differs  from 
quartz,  which  it  somewhat  resembles.  Its  color  is  white,  gray,  yellow, 
black  or  brown  and  it  may  be  either  opaque  or  transporent  Transparent 
varieties  exhibit  the  phenomenon  of  double  refraction  of  light.  Caleite 
occurs  as  small  stalactites  and  stalagmites  in  caves,  as  small  veins  filling 
cracks  in  limestone,  sandstone  and  in  round  iron  bearing  concretions  found 
in  shales.  Limestone  is  massive  caleite  and  often  is  formed  from  coral 
and  other  shells  and  is  a  very  common  rock  in  all  the  mountains.  Traver- 
tine or  calcareous  tufa  is  deposited  from  hot  springs.  A  great  thickness 
of  travertine  was  deposited  after  the  upheaval  .of  the  mountains  of  Fergus 
County  but.  still  thousands  of  years  ago  on  top  of  (iilt  Edge  Hill  and 
McDonald  Creek  Divide,  in  the  "I'nrk,"  south  of  the  North  Moccasins, 
and  elsewhere.  A  deposit  of  marl  resulting  chiefly  from  the  decay  of 
small  snail  shells  occurs  in   Crystal   Lake,   in   the   Snowy    Mountains. 

Dolomite,  the  carbonate  of  calcium  ami  magnesium,  composes  a  very 
small  part  of  ancient    Paleozic   limi  in   the   mountains.      The   carboni- 

ferous limestone  contains  practically  no  magnesium,  ami  hence  it   is  well 

suited    to   make   lime   and    cement.       Dolomite    Is    a    little    harder     than     cil 

cite,  but   otherwise  resembles  it. 

Smlthsonite,   tin-  carbonate   of   Bine,   occurs   as   Incrustations  on   spa! 

erlte    and    as    honeycombed    masses    known    M    "dry    bono    ore."       It     is    of 

small  Importance 

Btrontianite,  the  carbonate  of  strontium,  occurs  apparently  as  a  re- 
placement   of    lino-   tori"    in    tin-    foothills   of   the    Big    Snowy    Mountains,    near 

Cottonwood  «'reek.     The  mineral  occurred  in  sharp  radiating  crj  Lais,     it 

is    a    little    harder    than    caleite    and    whitih    gray    in    color        It     is    thOUghl 

the  depo  ii  Is  too  :  mall  to  be  "i  t  ommerclal  Important  • 

(  erudite,   lead   carbonate,  OCCUrs   as  a  decomposition    product    of   galena 

in    the   Judiths    and    elsewhere       [I    Li    of    small    Importance    In    Pergu 
County.     Many  hundred  tons  of  lead  carbonate  ore  carrying  silver  ealu< 


—20— 

have  been  produced  from  the  Woodhurst  mine,  Running  Wolf  Creek,  in 
the  Little  Belts.  A  little  anglesite,  the  lead  sulphate,  may  be  mixed  with 
the  carbonate. 

Malachite  and  Azurite,  green  and  blue,  respectively,  hydrated  carbon- 
ates of  copper  ore  are  important  surface  indications  of  copper  deposits  in 
the  Judith  and  Belt  Mountains.  Both  have  been  shipped  as  ore  from 
Armell's  Creek  in  the  Judiths  and  Wolf  Creek  in  the  Belts.  Malachite 
is  green  and  occurs  in  fibrous  radiating  structures.  Azurite  is  blue,  and 
often  occurs  in  radiating  spherical  groups.  Both  are  a  little  harder  than 
calcite. 

Silicates. 

Feldspars — Orthoclase,  the  potassium  aluminum  silicate  is  a  very  com- 
mon constituent  of  the  igneous  rock  or  "porphyry"  of  Fergus  County.  It 
forms  perfect  monoclinic  crystals  which  are  roughly  rectangular  and  are 
often  twinned.  Large  crystals  sometimes  over  an  inch  across  occur  in 
the  Judiths,  Belts  and  Moccasins,  especially  near  the  Spotted  Horse  mine, 
near  Maiden.  The  crystals  are  pale  yellow  or  brown.  Hardness  about 
the  same  as  steel  and  softer  than  quartz.  Plagioclase,  the  sodium  cal- 
cium aluminum  silicate,  occurs  in  the  igneous  dikes,  sills  and  laccoliths 
of  Fergus  County,  but  seldom  in  well  formed  crystals.  High  potash  feld- 
spars are  common,  as  at  Square  Butte,  and  may  serve  as  a  source  for 
potash  if  methods  are  perfected  to  extract  it  from  igneous  rock. 

Pyroxene  and  Amphibole,  dark  colored  calcium  magnesium,  iron  sili- 
cates occur  in  the  basic  rocks  of  Fergus  County  but  seldom  form  prom- 
inent crystals.  Hornblende  is  the  most  common  amphibole,  and  occurs  in 
dark  green  and  black,  sharp  pointed  and  blade-like  crystals.  Pyroxene 
js  often  common  in  the  igneous  dikes  and  intrusive  masses  in  the  Little 
Belts,  but  is  not  the  dominant  mineral. 

Garnet  has  about  the  hardness  of  quartz.  It  occurs  near  the  contact 
of  limestone  and  intrusive  porphyry  in  12-sided  crystals  (dodecahedrons), 
as  at  Ruby  Gulch,  in  the  Judiths,  and  near  Yogo,  in  the  Little  Belts.  The 
common  garnet  found  in  Fergus  County  is  a  calcium  aluminum  iron  sili- 
cate of  no  commercial  importance. 

Topaz,  a  complex  aluminum  silicate  containing  fluorine,  has  been 
found  in  the  West  Kendall  mine,  in  the  North  Moccasin  Mountains.  It 
occurs  in  a  mineral  deposit  of  galena  and  gold  near  the  contact  of  lime- 
stone and  granite  porphyry.  It  probably  results  from  pheumatolytic  ac- 
tion. The  topaz  occurs  in  clear,  translucent  masses,  seldom  in  crystals. 
It  is  next  in  hardness  to  sapphire  and  has  been  cut  into  very  handsome 
gems.  In  color  the  topaz  is  whitish  to  yellowish  brown  and  may  be 
either  opaque  or  transparent.  Some  of  the  so-called  topaz  is  probably 
quartz. 

Mica — Both  the  white  mica,  muscovite,  and  the  black  mica,  biotite, 
occur  in  the  porphyry  intrusions  of  Fergus  County  in  the  various  moun- 
tains as  fine  specks  and  slender  foils,  so  as  to  produce  a  speckled  ap- 
pearance, but  they  do  not  occur  in  commercial  deposits.  Mica  is  a  very 
complex  silicate,  soft  enough  to  be  scratched  with  the  finger  nail.  It 
resembles  flakes  of  gypsum,  but  if  bent  it  is  elastic,  while  gypsum  is 
brittle.      It  splits  easily  into   thin  sheet. 

Kaolinite,  or  china  clay,    a    hydrous    aluminum   silicate  which   results 


-21- 


from  the  weathering  of  felspars,  occurs  in  the  soil  of  Fergus  County,  but 
not  in  pure  deposits. 

Small  amounts  of  apatite,  the  calcium  phosphate  containing  chlorine 
and  fluorine,  exists  in  the  igneous  rocks  of  Fergus  County  mountains, 
but  no  deposits  of  phorphate  rock-  have  yet  been  found. 

Chrysocolla,  a  hydrated  silicate  of  copper,  occurs  on  Armells  Creek, 
in  the  Judiths,  and  on  Wolf  Creek,  in  the  Little  Belts,  associated  with 
azurite  and  malachite.  It  occurs  in  small  light  blue  masses  and  is  the 
result  of  the  ozidation  of  copper  sulphides.  It  has  been  shipped  to  smelt- 
ers as  a  copper  ore  to  a  small  extent. 

Yanadinite,  a  complex  vanadium  salt  of  lead,  has  been  found  in  well 
formed  crystals  in  the  old  Sir  Walter  Scott  mine,  in  the  Little  Belts. 

Olivine,  a  magnesium  iron  silicate,  occurs  in  many  ingeous  rocks  in 
the  Little  Belts  in  small  irregular  masses. 

Chlorite  is  reported  by  Pirsson  to  be  a  constituent  of  some  igneous 
rocks   in   Fergus    County. 


■  — 


x 

> 
x 
- 

X 

- 


<•. 


—22— 

CHAPTER   IV. 
Geology  »>f  Fergus  County. 

.  The  rocks  exposed  in  Fergus  County  range  in  age  from  early  Paleozoic 
to  recent  in  an  almost  complete  geologic  section  and  aggregate  nearly 
two   miles    in   thickness. 

Archean  gneises  and  schists  are  found  near  Neihart,  in  the  Little 
Belt  Mountains  and  prohably  underlie  all  of  Fergus  County  as  the  base- 
ment complex  on  which  the  later  sedimentary  rocks  were  deposited,  but 
none  are  exposed  at  the  surface.  In  the  Belt  Mountains  is  a  great  series 
of  shale,  limestone  and  quartzite  about  4,600  feet  thick,  called  the  Belt 
Series  that  is  of  Pre-Cambrian  age.  None  of  these  rocks  are  exposed  in 
the  Judith  or  Moccasin  Mountains,  but  they  are  well  exposed  on  the  South 
Fork  of  Judith  River,  in  the  Little  Belt  Mountains,  where  about  1,000 
feet  of  gray  shales  have  been  deeply  trenched  by  the  streams.  There  is 
about  200  feet  of  gray,  green  and  black  shale  exposed  in  the  canyon  of 
Swimming  Woman  Creek,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Big  Snowies,  in  Mus- 
selshell County  which  would  represent  the  top  of  the  Belt  Series.  In 
both  cases  they  are  overlain  by  the  hard  basal  sandstone  of  the  Cam- 
brian which  is  a  resistant  rock,  and  forms  rock  terraces  or  plateaus. 

The  base  of  the  Cambrian  is  named  the  Flathead  and  consists  of  a 
redish  sandstone,  usually  a  conglpmerate  containing  rounded  pebbles 
of  quartz.  Its  base  is  a  true  quartzite.  The  Flathead  is  100  feet  thick. 
It  is  exposed  in  South  Fork,  of  the  Judith  River,  in  the  Little  Belts;  in 
Swimming  Woman  Canyon,  in  the  Big  Snowies,  and  at  Black  Butte.  The 
quartzite  is  overlain  by  150  feet  of  dark  gray  or  green  micaceous  shale, 
with  some  concretions  containing  fossils,  identified  by  Wolcott  as  Middle 
Cambrian.  The  shale  is  followed  by  a  limestone  conglomerate.  Next  there 
is  about  40  feet  of  yellow  sandy  shale  capped  by  a  thin  bedded,  flaggy  lime- 
stone, often  containing  chert  pebbles.  It  weathers  as  cliffs  and  commonly 
shows  well  developed  joints,  so  that  it  breaks  into  blocks  and  prisms. 
The  Cambrain  is  completely  exposed  around  Half  Moon  Pass,  in  the 
Snowies,  where  it  forms  great  cliffs.  The  Cambrian  occurs  in  canyons  of 
the  Judith  River,  in  the  Little  Belts;  at  Black  Butte,  in  Alpine  Gulch, 
Ruby  Gulch,  and  Limekiln  Gulch,  in  the  Judiths;  in  the  northeast  part 
of  the  South  Moccasins,  and  a  few  small  outcrops  in  the  North  Moccasins. 
The  Cambian  shales  and  fissile  limestones  are  common  zones  of  intrusion 
for  igneous  rocks  in  the  form  of  laccoliths,  sills  and  dikes.  The  laccoliths 
of  the  Judiths  and  Moccasins  intrude  the  Cambrian  and  often  the  Cam- 
bian sales  and  limestone  are  tipped  and  broken  into  great  blocks  by  the 
intrusions,  as  near  the  Spotted.  Horse  mine  at  Maiden  and  on  the  north 
side   of   the   South    Moccasins. 

Between  the  Cambrian  and  Carboniferous  formations  is  found  about 
200-300  feet  of  limestone  that  differs  in  appearance  from  the  conglomer- 
ate limestones  of  the  Cambian  or  the  massive  thick  bedded  Madison 
limestone.  The  exact  age  of  the  formation  is  a  matter  of  dispute,  but 
it  is  considered  the  equivalent  of  the  Siluro  Devonian  formations  of  the 
Three  Forks  region,  which  comprize  the  Jefferson  limestone  and  Three 
Forks  shale.  The  basal  limestone  generally  rises  abruptly  from  the 
Cambrian  shales  as  a  cliff.  The  limestone  is  dark  brown  to  steel  gray  or 
bluish  black  and  occurs  in  beds  a  few  feet  thick  that  are  well  jointed. 
The  rock  frequently  has  a  decided  granular  appearance  due  to  cream 
colored    markings.      It    sometimes    has    a    fetid    odor   when    struck    with    a 


— 23 — 

hammer,  due  to  the  presence  of  organic  matter.  Corals  and  crinoids 
are  found  in  the  limestone.  Some  beds  of  sandy  shale  occur  with  the 
limestone.  The  Siluro  Devonian  is  well  developed  in  the  Little  Belts, 
especially  in  the  valley  of  Lost  Fork  of  the  Judith,  where  it  forms  the 
greater  part  of  the  bedrock.  It  forms  the  tops  of  the  ridges  about  Alpine, 
New  Year,  Ruby,  and  Limekiln  Gulches,  in  the  Judiths.  It  is  a  com- 
mon rock  in  the  Big  Snowy  Mountains  and  outcrops  in  the  Moccasins. 

The  most  characteristic  formation  in  the  mountains  of  Fergus  County 
is  the  Madison  limestone  of  Lower  Carboniferous  or  Mississippean  age. 
This  consists  of  thick  bedded  limestone  towards  the  base  and  very  mas- 
sive limestone  at  the  top.  The  formation  varies  from  7  50-900  feet  in 
thickness.  The  limestone  is  often  stained  brown  or  yellow  by  iron  oxide 
and  gold  and  other  metals  occur  as  replacements  of  the  lime  along  its 
contact  with  intrusive  sheets  of  porphyry  in  the  Judiths,  Belts  and 
North  Moccasins.  Caves,  arches,  sinkholes  and  pinnacles  are  common 
phenomena  of  the  weathering  of  the  limestone.  The  rocks  resist  erosion 
and  often  stand  as  nearly  vertical  cliffs  several  hundred  feet  high.  Deep, 
narrow  "box  canyons"  are  a  characteris  of  its  erosion  where  its  strata 
dips  moderately,  and  forms  the  gateway  to  the  mountain  in  most  of  the 
canyons.  The  Madison  is  much  more  resistant  to  erosion  than  any  over- 
lying rocks  and  therefore  usually  serves  to  sharply  separate  the  moun- 
tains from  the  plains,  and  foothills  about  them,  and  therefore  is  called 
the  "mountain  limestone."  The  limestone  is  light  colored  and  in  the 
upper  portion  dense,  rarely  crystalline,  and  contains  some  small  masses 
of  chert.  It  is  pure  and  is  used  for  the  manufacture  of  lime  and  port- 
land  cement.  The  Madison  outcrops  over  the  greater  part  of  the  Big 
Snowy  and  eastern  extension  of  the  Little  Belt  Mountains,  and  forms  a 
wide  belt  around  the  Moccasins  and  most  of  the  Judith  Mountains. 

Above  the  Maadison  limestone  the  Quadrant  formation  occurs  which 
is  commonly  considered  of  Upper  Carboniferous  or  Pennsylvania  in  age 
but  the  writer  considers  the  top  of  the  formation,  at  least,  to  be  the 
equivalent  of  the  Permo-Carboniferous  or  "Red  Beds"  of  the  southern 
Great  Plains.  The  Quadrant  is  a  very  variable  formation.  It  is  1,400 
feet  thick  near  Utica,  over  1,000  feet  at  Alaska  Bench,  700  feet  of  it  were 
penetrated  in  an  oil  well  near  Piper,  while  only  a  few  feet  of  shale  rep- 
resents it  in  the  Judiths  and  Moccasins,  while  it  is  lacking  entirely  In 
the  Little  Rockies,  north  of  the  Missouri.  No  unconformity  between  the 
Madison  and  Quadrant  has  been  found,  but  the  character  of  the  rocks 
changes  entirely.  The  base  ol  tho  formation  near  Judith  Gap  con- 
sists of  red  shale,  but  at  Alaska  Bench  and  In  the  Piper  well,  thick  beds 
of  hard  sandstone  was  encountered  in  this  horizon,  Above  this  there  is 
about  100  feet  of  coppery  green  shale,  which  perhaps  is  the  most  char- 
acteristic member  ol  the  lower  half  or  the  formation.  Thin  bedt  of  bi- 
tuminous limestone  occur  both  above  and  below  the  green  shale  and  are 
especially  well  iievelopd  <>n  Ala  ks    Bench,  where  they  are  aaaoclatd  with 

over    300    feet    of    black    shale.        \     hard    siliceous    limcst  one    that     weat  li 

red  on  exposed  edges  and  contains  many  fossils  forms  the  top  of  Iho  for- 
mation around  the  Big  Snowy  Mountains  This  lino-  tone  Is  over  I  f.n  feet 
thick  at  Alaska  Bench  and  only  IS  feet  thick  a  few  mil.  north  at  Piper, 
and    is  absent    a    few    miles    farther    north    in    the   Judiths.       From    B    study   of 

fossils  collected  hv  ('albert,  Glrty  states  (Ball  890  D  B  «:  s.  pp  B-19) 
he  is  unable  to  correlate  the  formation  exactly  as  some  foHsilH  are  char- 
acteristic of  the  Pennsylvanlan  and  others  su  late  Mlastsslppean,    The 


— 24 — 

hard  limestone  beds  of  the  Quadrant  are  resistant  to  erosion  and  form 
the  top  of  Alaska  Bench  and  other  high  benches  east  and  north  of  the 
Snowies,  which  all  have  a  steep  inner  slope  towards  the  mountains  and 
a  gentle  outward  slope  with  the  dip  of  the  hard  rock  away  from  the 
mountains.  The  underlying  shales  of  the  Quadrant  are  easily  eroded  and 
form  broad  passes  and  valleys  between  the  Madison  limestone  of  the 
mountains  and  the  foothills  and  benches  around  them. 

The  Triassic  beds  of  Wyoming  appear  to  be  absent  in  Fergus  County, 
as  the  Jurassic  system  of  rocks  lies  upon  the  Quadrant.  The  Jurassic 
consists  of  the  Ellis  formation  and  the  Morrison  formation.  The  Ellis 
beds  consist  of  sandstones,  thin  limestones  and  dark  colored  shale.  The 
sandstone  is  conglomeratic  and  usually  contains  a  great  number  of  oyster 
shells,  and  weathers  to  a  peculiar  tan  color.  The  Ellis  varies  greatly  in 
the  character  of  its  strata  in  different  places.  Limestone  is  sometimes 
almost  absent,  but  at  Button  Butte  it  is  thick  and  hard.  Thick  beds 
of  pure  gypsum  occur  in  the  Ellis  around  the  Snowies  and  at  Hanover. 
The  top  of  the  formation  is  sandstone,  which  serves  to  separate  it  from 
the  overlying  Morrison  formation  whose  basal  member  is  shale  or  shaly 
limestone.  The  Ellis  is  about  400  feet  thick,  but  there  is  considerable 
variation  in  different  localities.  The  Morrison  averages  about  125  feet 
thick,  and  consists  mostly  of  vari-colored  shales.  The  base  consists  of 
red  and  pink  shale  which  gies  way  to  greenish  shale  and  finally  to  buff 
sandstone  at  the  top.  The  layers  of  siliceous  limestone  that  often  con- 
tains calcite  crystals  are  interbedded  with  the  shale.  The  peculiar  vari- 
colored shales  are  the  most  interesting  lithological  characteristic  of  the  Mor- 
rison. The  Morrison  is  here  classed  as  Jurassic  but  may  represent  the 
base  of  the  Cretaceous. 

The  strata  of  the  Cretaceous  system  cover  most  of  the  surface  of 
Fergus  County  outside  of  the  mountains  and  foothill  regions.  The  Lower 
Cretaceous  is  represented  by  the  Kootenai  formation.  The  Kootenai  varies 
from  about  450-550  feet  in  thickness,  and  is  made  up  of  alternating 
layers  of  shale  and  sandstone  and  in  some  places  beds  of  good  coal  occur. 
The  shale  is  of  a  clayey  character  and  is  predominantly  reddish.  The 
sandstone  members  vary  greatly  in  thickness  within  short  distances.  They 
usually  show  cross  bedding  and  are  conglomeratic  and  are  stained  red 
and  yellow  by  iron.  The  best  coal  beds  sometimes  are  present  higher 
up  in  the  formation,  but  they  are  usually  thin  and  of  poor  grade.  Springs 
commonly  occur  at  the  outcrop  of  sandstone  and  coal  beds.  A  film  of 
iron  hydroxide  often  forms  over  the  spring  water,  which  has  an  iridescence 
similiar  to  oil  and  such  springs  are  sometimes  mistaken  for  oil  seepages. 
Many  of  the  springs  are  depositing  bog  iron. 

The  Colorado  shale  overlies  the  Kootenai  with  apparent  conformity, 
but  farther  east,  in  the  Great  Plains,  several  hundred  feet  of  strata  oc- 
curs between  similar  formations.  In  Fergus  County  the  formation  is 
from  1,500  feet  to  2,300  feet  thick.  Above  the  Kootenai  is  about  100 
feet  of  alternating  fine-grained  sandstone  and  thin  layers  of  shale,  both 
of  which  weather  brown.  The  sandstone  is  often  in  the  form  of  flat  lenses, 
The  remainder  of  the  formation  is  shale  that  varies  in  color  from  dark 
gray  and  drab  to  black.  The  shale  contains  occasional  thin  sandstone 
members.  The  Colorado  outcrops  very  extensively  in  Fergus  County  and 
is  the  bedrock  through   most   of  the  Judith   Basin.      It   covers   the  county 


— 25 — 

between  Gilt  Edge  and  Grass  Range  to  Winnett  north  to  about  the  line  of 
Box  Elder  Creek  and  Black  Butte. 

The  Colorado  is  overlain  in  Central  Montana  by  the  Montana  group. 
The  Montana  consists  of  the  Eagle  sandstone  at  the  base,  followed  by 
Clagget  formation,  the  Judith  River  formation  and  the  Bearpaw  shale 
in  order.  The  Eagle  is  200-300  feet  thick  and  consists  of  120  feet  of  heavy 
bedded  sandstone  at  its  base  which  varies  from  white  to  buff  and  brown 
in  color.  Above  this  are  thin  beds  of  coal  and  carbonaceous  shale.  The 
Claggert  shale  is  of  marine  origin  and  is  usually  black  in  color.  It  re- 
sembles the  Bearpaw  shale,  except  toward  the  top,  which  contains  thin 
beds  of  sandstone.  The  Clagget  is  about  700  feet  in  thickness  and  is 
2  50-500  feet  thick.  The  Judith  River  consists  of  sandstone  usually  cross 
bedded  that  weathers  to  a  peculiar  yellowish  color,  and  alternates  with 
clay  and  shale.  In  Northern  Fergus  County  there  is  a  persistent  bed  of 
coal  and  carbonaceous  shale  which  usually  changes  to  fairly  good  coal. 
This  is  usually  overlain  by  several  inches  of  oyster  shells  (Ostrea  sub- 
trigonalis)  which  form  a  clearly  defined  bed.  The  formation  contains 
bones  of  vertebrates  and  much  petrified  wood.  The  Bearpaw  shale  is 
about  1,100  feet  thick  and  is  predominately  black  in  color.  It  frequent- 
ly weathers  to  form  extensive  gumbo  flats.  The  shale  contains  many 
round  and  oblong  concretions  which  are  filled  with  fossils,  especially 
ammonites  and  belemites.  The  Montana  formations  outcrop  over  almost 
all  the  county  north  and  east  of  the  areas  covered  by  the  Colorado  shale. 
This  includes  the  country  east  of  Winnett  to  the  Musselshell  and  north 
of  Black  Butte,  Hilger  and  Deerfield   to  the   Missouri. 

In  Northeastern  Fergus  the  Lance  formation  of  Tertiary  age  occurs 
over  the  Bearpaw  shale.  It  consists  of  alternating  beds  of  gray  sand- 
stone and  clay  shale  with  thin  beds  of  coal  near  the  top.  It  is  a  more 
resistant  formation  than  the  Bearpaw  and  caps  Dovetail  Butte  and  others 
along  Crooked  Creek.  It  covers  considerable  areas  around  Valentine  and 
:n  the  triangle  between  Box  Elder  Creek,  the  Musselshell  and  the 
Missouri. 

The  Quaternary  system  is  represented  by  valley  deposits  of  alluvium 
along  the  chief  rivers,  by  spring  deposits  of  travertine  near  the  laccollthic 
mountains  and  by  terrace  gravels  covering  most  of  the  great  benches  in 
the  Judith  Basin.  The  alluvium  occurs  mainly  in  the  valley  of  the  Mis- 
iiiri  and  Musselshell.  The  travertine  or  calcareous  tufa  caps  Gilt  Edge 
Hill  and  covers  extensive  areas  on  McDonald  Creek  Divide  south  to  the 
road  from  Heath  to  Forest  drove.  It  caps  Castle  Butte,  and  two  buttes 
at  the  northeast,  and  southeast  corner  of  the  Smith  Moccasins,  and  covers 
.several  sections  in  tin-  plateau  called  the  "Park"  at  the  southern  edge  of 
the  North  Moccasins.  The  travertine  consists  of  limestone  deposited 
from  great  extinct  springs  which  derived  it  from  the  neighboring  moun- 
tains  and    Is    porous   and    often    Siliceous.       It    is   deposit. -d    on    the    truncated 

edges    of    folded     Jurassic    and     Cretac is     formations    Bhowing     that    the 

country     was    l>a   ■  •    leveled     before    the    deposit     began.       The    grave]     » 
brought    from    the    BUITOUndlng    mountain       h}      mm,, -nl     meandering    streams 

and    probably   also    by    floods.     Th<     Ba  In    m      evidently    Dearly   at    bi 
level  and  the  gravel  was  deposited  on  gentle  slopes  from   the  mountain! 
to  the  Judith   River.     Later  the  snewed   their  downcutting  and 

carved  valleys  far  beiow  the  old     lop.     and  made  the  bencb  ol  the   Bi  tn 
of  today.     Three  and  in  some  places  four  or  Ave  gravel  covered  ben.1 
or  terraces  along  the  .  hn-f    tream    can  be  ld<  ntlfled,  eacb  of  which  indicat 


—26— 

that  the  stream  tlowed  at  that  level  for  a  long  time.  The  gravel  consists 
of  water  worn  limestone,  quarzite  and  porphyry  from  the  mountains  and 
is  from  a  few  feet  to  over  50  feet  thick.  The  gravel  surface  is  level  but 
w:is  deposited  on  irregularly  eroded  bedrock.  The  gravel  resists  erosion 
better  than  the  shale,  which  it  usually  covers,  and  is  the  cap  rock  for 
most  of  the  buttes  and  benches  in  the  Basin.  Locally  lime  deposited  by 
ground  water  has  cemented  the  gravel  together  and  formed  a  gravel 
cement.  A  few  granite,  gneiss  and  schist  boulders  are  thinly  scattered 
over  Northeastern  Fergus  County  and  were  brought  from  Canada  by  the 
continental  glacier  that  came  from  west  of  Hudson  Bay  some  50,000 
years  ago.  The  glacial  deposits  are  unimportant  and  weathering  and 
erosion  have  removed  all  but  the  hardest  rocks. 

GEOLOGICAL.   HISTORY. 

The  sedimentary  Belt  Series  was  deposited  unconformably  on  highly 
metamorphic  gneisses  and  schists  in  Central  Montana.  The  thick  Pre- 
Cambrian  Belt  Series  of  marine  shales  and  limestone  indicates  that  an 
ocean  covered  Central  Montana  for  a  very  long  time.  There  seems,  how- 
ever, to  have  been  an  island  near  Neihart.  The  Pre-Cambrian  closed  with 
a  great  uplift  and  this  area  was  dry  land  for  an  unknown  length  of  time. 
The  uplift  was  not  high  enough  to  result  in  much  erosion,  however,  as 
there  is  no  angular  unconformity  betwen  the  Belt  Series  and  the  Cambrian, 
the  basal  conglomerate  of  the  Cambrian  indicates  a  sinking  coast  and  an 
ocean  advancing  over  the  land.  The  shale  and  limestone  overlying  the 
conglomerate  indicates  a  steadily  deepening  arm  of  the  ocean.  Then  for 
millions  of  years  during  Silurian,  Devonian  and  Lower  Carboniferous  times 
Central  Montana  continued  to  be  covered  by  an  ocean.  There  was  evi- 
dently no  land  areas  nearby  as  almost  pure  limestone  was  deposited  over 
1,000  feet  thick.  Fossils  indicate  that  the  climate  was  warm,  even  almost 
tropical  at  this  time.  Many  fossil  coral  reefs  occur  in  the  mountains  and 
corals  die  when  the  temperature  drops  below  65  degrees  F.  The  rocks 
at  the  base  of  the  Quadrant  indicate  a  shallowing  of  the  ocean  and  much 
of  the  formation  is  characteristic  of  brackish  water  and  shore  lines.  The 
j-^reat  variation  in  thickness  of  the  Quadrant  indicates  variable  distances 
from  land  masses.  An  uplift  closed  the  Quadrant,  as  the  Ellis  in 
Cascade  County,  lies  on  the  Madison,  but  no  erosion  sems  to  have  oc- 
curred in  Fergus  County,  so  that  the  land  was  not  much  above  sea  level. 
The  Ellis  beds  of  Jurassic  age  were  deposited  in  the  ocean,  but  its  sand- 
stones are  a  sign  that  the  water  was  stagnant.  The  fossils  in  the  Morrison 
are  fresh  water  forms  and  its  sandstones  are  cross  bedded,  both  proofs 
that  the  Ellis  closed  with  a  withdrawal  of  the  sea  and  that  the  Morrison 
is  a  terrestial  deposit.  The  climate  was  probably  arid  in  part  of  early 
Jurassic  times  during  which  thick  gypsum  beds  were  deposited  in  lagoons. 
The  gypsum  is  accompanied  by  marine  limestone  showing  that  a  minor 
inundation  of  the  ocean  occurred.  The  land  soon  rose  and  the  marine 
part  of  the  Jurassic  was  succeeded  without  apparent  unconformity  by 
cross  bedded  terrestial  sandstones  and  shales  of  the  Morrison  containing 
fresh  water  fossils. 

Central  Montana  continued  to  be  land  through  lower  Cretaceous  time 
as  the  cross  bedded  sandstones  and  coal  beds  of  the  Kootenai  indicate 
river  and  wind  deposits  and  swamp  conditions  favorable  for  the  growth  of 
coal  making  plants.  The  ocean,  however,  again  returned  and  covered 
America   from   the   Gulf   of   Mexico   across   Montana   to   the  Arctic   Oceon. 


—27- 


The  great  thickness  of  the  Colorado  shale  shows  that  the  ocean  covered 
Fergus  County  for  a  long  time.  The  Eagle  sandstone  indicates  a  shal- 
lowing of  the  water  and  a  return  to  the  swamps  and  shore  line  conditions. 
The  Claggett  shale  was  deposited  in  a  renewed  flooding  of  the  land  by  the 
ocean  which,  however,  later  withdrew  out  of  Central  Montana  for  thou- 
sands of  years,  during  which  the  coal  beds,  cross  bedded  sandstones  and 
terrestial  clay  of  the  Judith  River's  formation  were  deposited.  The 
ocean  continued  to  cover  Montana  east  of  the  Musselshell  as  the  Judith 
River  beds  thin  out  and  disappear  in  that  direction  and  the  Claggett 
and  Bearpaw  are  not  separated  but  are  one  formation.  The  ocean  covered 
Fergus  County  for  the  last  time  when  the  Bearpaw  shale  was  depositd. 
The  Lance  is  a  formation  deposited  on  the  land  or  in  shallow  fresh 
water.  Cretaceous  time  was  closed  by  probably  the  greatest  uplift  that 
has  occurred  in  this  part  of  Montana  and  in  the  early  tertary  intrusions 
of  igneous  rock  domed  up  the  Judith  and  Moccasins  and  compressions  of 
the  earth's  crust  produced  the  great  anticlines  of  the  Snowies,  Belts  and 
South  Eastern  Fergus  County.  Ash  beds  occur  in  the  upper  Cretaceous 
rocks  near  the  Highwoods,  showing  that  the  volcanoes  there  were  then 
active.  The  dikes  that  radiate  out  from  the  Highwoods  and  also  occur 
along  the  Missouri  were  intruded  at  this  time.  Since  the  close  of  the 
Cretaceous  erosion  has  removed  thousands  of  feet  of  sedimentary  rocks, 
the  travertine  and  bench  gravels  were  deposited  during  this  time.  Ero- 
sion processes  have  been  periodically  renewed  in  Fergus  County  and  there 
were  long  intervals  when  more  deposition  than  removal  of  sediments  oc- 
curred. Some  50,000  years  ago  a  glacier  covered  Northeastern  Fergus 
County  but  left  no  important  deposits.  The  great  gorge  of  the  Missouri 
and  the  lesser  valleys  of  its  tributaries  inside  the  last  broad  terrace  have 
been  cut  since  then. 


I 


<  iiMltlM:    VI    WORK. 


—28— 

CHAPTER  V. 

Metal  Deposits  of  Fefgus  County  and  Their  Development. 

Over  $18,000,000  worth  of  metals,  mostly  gold,  has  been  produced  from 
the  mines  of  Fergus  County.  Several  descriptions  of  the  mining  districts 
have  been  published  and  are  listed  in  the  bibliography.  They  were  of 
assistance  in  the  preparation  of  this  chapter,  but  all  mines  have  been 
visited  and  new  data  collected.  So  far  as  possible  complex  and  theoretical 
discussions  are  avoided  in  the  discussion  of  the  metallic  resources  in 
this  chapter.  Those  wishing  further  descriptions  of  the  mines  and  min- 
eral deposits  are  referred  to  the  reports  listed  in  the  bibliography. 

Gold  was  first  discovered  in  Fergus  County  in  1870,  at  Yogo,  in  the 
Little  Belt  Mountains.  A  rush  ensued,  and  soon  1,200  miners  were  busy 
working  the  placers  and  quartz  lodes.  The  claims  proved  disappointing 
and  the  town  was  abandoned. 

Placer  gold  was  found  in  Alpine  Gulch,  in  the  Judith  Mountains,  in 
1880,  and  the  Spotted  Horse  and  Maginnis  mines  were  located  the  same 
year.  Prospecting  or  mining  has  been  active  in  all  the  mountain  groups 
of  the  county  since  the  discoveries  at  Maiden. 

Placer  gold  occurs  and  is  apparently  mostly  derived  from  the  weather- 
ing and  erosion  of  small  pyritic  gold  bearing  veins  in  porphyry.  Gold 
has  been  produced  from  placers  in  the  Judith  Mountains,  chiefly  in  Alpine 
Gulch  and  Armells  Creek,  from  the  Little  Belts  in  Yogo  Gulch,  and  from 
the  North  Moccasins  in  the  gulches  of  the  south  half  of  the  mountains. 
Deserted  cabins,  old  flumes  and  piles  of  worked  over  grovels  and  rock 
remain  in  several  of  the  gulches  to  mark  the  activity  of  the  placer  miner, 
but  it  is  improbable  that  the  total  production  ever  amounted  to  over 
$100,000.     Only  a  few  ounces  have  been  reported  in  the  last  ten  years. 

Quartz  deposits  of  metals  in  Fergus  County  are  of  two  types.  The 
first  type  consists  of  small  stringers  and  veinlets  in  intrusive  porphyry, 
especially  near  phonolite  dikes.  No  important  mine  has  ever  been  de- 
veloped from  such  deposits  although  high  assays  of  gold,  silver,  lead  and 
copper  are  sometimes  obtained,  and  some  ore  has  been  marketed.  At 
times  the  phonolite  dike  itself  contains  enough  mineral  to  be  called  a 
"vein  of  ore."  The  small  pyritic  veins  in  porphyry  have  supplied  most 
of  the  placer  gold.  Such  veinlets  are  found  in  the  North  Moccasins, 
near  Yogo  in  the  Belts,  and  in  the  Judiths  in  Alpine  Gulch,  Grassy  Peak, 
Red  Mountain  and  the  Cone  Butte  mining  sections.  Two  small  stamp 
mills  were  built  many  years  ago  in  the  North  Moccasins  in  an  attempt 
to  work  the  pyritic  veins,  but  the  gold  content  was  too  small  to  permit 
its  profitable  recovery.  Similar  failures  have  resulted  in  the  Judiths. 
However,  it  is  not  improbable  that  rich  pockets  of  shipping  ore  may 
be  found  in  some  of  the  veins  in  the  porphyry,  although  from  the  experience 
of  the  past  it  is  not  probable  that  any  large  ore  bodies  will  be  discovered 
under   such    circumtsances. 

The  second  type  of  metal  deposit  are  ore  bodies  formed  by  the  re- 
placement of  limestone  near  its  contact  with  intrusive  laccoliths  and 
sheets  of  igneous  rock.  These  deposits  have  furnished  nearly  all  of  the 
metal  production  of  the  county.  The  mines  developed  from  this  type  of 
metal  deposit  are  valuable  for  (1)  gold,  (2)  lead-silver  and  zinc,  (3) 
copper.  They  will  be  described  under  the  head  of  the  mountain  group  or 
mining  district  in  which  they  occur. 

The  replacement  deposits   in   the   mountains  were   deposited   at   depths 


—29— 

of  several  thousand  feet,  or  at  what  Lindgren  calls  intermediate  depth. 
It  is  probable  that  some  or  bodies  are  not  exposed  at  the  surface  at  all, 
as  such  exposure  results  from  the  accidental  processes  of  erosion.  The 
manner  of  occurrence,  the  kind  of  minerals,  and  the  banded  structure  of 
many  of  the  deposits  indicate  a  deposition  from  hot  escending  solutions. 
Nearly  all  the  metals  seem  to  have  been  originally  deposited  as  sulphides, 
but  since  their  formation  they  have  been  oxidized  to  depths  of  several 
hundred  feet.  The  most  valuable  ore  bodies  are  replacement  deposits  of 
gold  in  limestone  near  its  contact  with  intrusive  igneous  rock.  If  the  ore 
is  near  a  sheet  of  porphyry  it  is  always  underneath  it  and  the  porphyry 
serves  as  the  hanging  wall.  The  ore  deposits  usually  occur  in  well  denned 
shoots,  although  some  of  them  are  irregular  and  assays  are  necessary  to 
tell  ore  from  unmineralized  lime  rock.  The  richest  ore  at  Maiden  is  ac- 
companied by  purple  fluorite.  The  fluorite  resulted  from  the  action  of  hy- 
drofluoric acid  on  limestone.  This  acid  was  probably  brought  by  solutions 
trom  the  intrusive  molten  magmas  and  may  have  aided  in  dissolving  the 
gold.  The  gold-bearing  limestone  is  usually  siliceous,  often  jasperoid  and 
is  more  crystalline  than  before  mineralization. 

It  is  believed  that  the  mineral  bearing  solutions  were  derived  from  in- 
rrusive  igneous  rock  and  were  therefore  hot.  They  were  ascending  as 
they  occur  below  porphyry  sheets.  The  contraction  of  the  molten  magma 
on  cooling  would  leave  fissures  through  which  solutions  might  pass.  The 
chief  ore  bodies  occur  in  thin  bedded  and  easily  fractured  limestone  to- 
wards the  top  of  the  Carboniferous.  The  thick  bedded  Madison  limestone 
below  and  the  sandstones  and  shales  of  the  Jurassic  above  have  been  little 
affected.  Solutions  easily  entered  along  the  bedding  planes,  and  the  fis- 
sures resulting  from  the  uplift  of  the  mountains  and  intrusions  of  igneous 
rock.  Solution  of  limestone  was  very  extensive  as  great  deposits  of  traver- 
tine are  found  near  the  Judith  and  Moccasin  Mountains.  The  precipitation 
of  minerals  in  the  brecciated  limestone  would  be  caused  by:  greater  solu- 
bility of  limestone,  relief  of  pressure,  lower  temperature,  and  chemical 
reactions,  due  especially  to  the  presence  of  carbonaceous  matter  thai  would 
act  as  a  reducing  agent.  The  effect  of  carbon  is  best  shown  in  the  Barnes- 
King  mine,  where  the  best  ore  contains  so  much  carbonaceous  matter  thai 
roasting  is  necessary  before  cyanldation.  This  ore  assays  $20-$30  per 
ton  while  the  average  from  the  mine  is  about  $8.  The  gold  probably  was 
originally  deposited  as  a  telluride,  along  with  quartz,  calclte  and  sulphides. 
♦  specially  pyrlte.  Surface  waters  and  the  air  have  oxidized  the  pyrlte 
which  results  in  staining  much  of  the  ore  a  red,  yellow  or  brown  color, 
and  practically  all  ore  mined  is  softened  and  decomposed  by  the  agenti  o1 
weathering.     Free  gold  is  rarely  seen 

MINE  DESCRIPTIONS. 
Judith   Mountain*. 

Th.'    mOBl    important    mine     are   those    rear    Maiden.      The    Spotted    Horse 

was  located  in  1880  and  wa  operated  fairly  contlnuou  ly  by  different  pai 
until  1902,  when  it  wa  closed  II  was  reopened  In  1912  and  ran  until 
hut.  not  operating  In  1918  During  this  time  the  mine  wa  operated 
i,v  k  h.  Coolidge  under  lea  e  The  Spotted  Horse  has  produced  ahoul 
$6,500,000  in  gold.  The  ore  during  its  first  period  of  operation  was  all 
pped  to  the  smelter  and  averaged  aboul    ?i"(>   per  ton.     Much  of  the 

ore  was  high  grade,  Bome  being  worth  $80,1 per  ton      The  besl  ore  1b 

colored  purple  by  fluorite      The  mine  li   developed  to  a  deptb  oi  I 


—30 — 

with  appropriate  levels.  It  is  equipped  with  a  75-ton  cyanide  mill  and 
most  of  the  gold  produced  in  recent  years  has  been  recovered  from  low 
grade  ore.  The  ore  occurs  in  very  perfect  shoots  underneath  inclined 
sheets  of  porphyry.  The  mine  is  not  worked  out  and  the  geological  con- 
ditions are  such  that  further  ore  bodies  may  be  expected  to  occur.  Four 
chimneys  of  ore  have  so  far  been  worked. 

The  Maginnis  mine  was  located  in  1880  and  worked  at  intervals  until 
1S99.  It  was  then  closed  until  1909,  and  since  then  has  been  operated 
periodically  by  lessees.  The  Maginnis  has  produced  about  $2,000,000  in 
gold.  The  mine  is  developed  to  a  depth  of  426  feet  with  over  a  mile  of 
drifts.  It  is  equipped  with  a  10-stamp  mill,  a  concentrator  for  shipping 
ore,  and  a  cyanide  plant  for  low  grade.  Much  quartz  and  purple  fluorite 
ore  averaging  $100  per  ton  has  been  shipped  to  the  smelters.  The  ore 
bodies  occur  beneath  sheets  of  porphyry  and  is  thought  they  should  con- 
tinue to  a  greater  depth  than  has  yet  been  mined. 

The  Cumberland  mine  adjoins  the  Spotted  Horse.  It  has  produced 
about  $500,000  in  gold.  It  is  developed  with  a  1,000-foot  adit  and  is 
equipped  with  a  150-ton  cyanide  mille.  The  ore  occurs  at  the  contact  of 
limestone  and  porphyry.  Two  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  dollars  came 
from  workings  above  the  adit  which  exhausted  the  ore  body.  The  mine 
was  leased  and  early  in  1916  a  big  ore  body  was  opened  and  in  1916  and 
1917  a  large  tonnage  of  high  grade  ore  was  shipped  to  the  smelter  and 
some  lower  grade  sent  through  the  mill.  The  mine  was  closed  in  1918  as 
a  result  of  the  lessees  joining  the  army. 

The  War  Eagle,  near  Maiden,  is  developed  by  a  short  tunnel.  Since 
1910  several  shipments  of  zinc  ore  carrying  values  in  gold,  silver  and  lead 
have  been  made. 

.  A  large  amount  of  prospecting  has  been  done  near  Maiden,  and  several 
of  the  prospects  may  turn  into  mines  with  further  development  work. 
Alpine  Gulch  and  Grassy  Peak  contain  prospects  where  high  assay  values 
have  been  secured.  Some  of  these  claims  are  lead,  silver,  others  copper, 
or  gold.  The  Florence  has  been  closed  for  yars,  but  produced  gold  for  a 
time  from  a  small  but  very  rich  ore  body  from  which  17  tons  yielded  $9,000. 

The  Cone  Butte  mining  district  includes  the  Judiths,  north  of  Maiden. 
No  large  mines  have  been  developed  within  this  section,  but  much  pros- 
pecting has  been  done  and  there  are  many  likely  prospects.  Those  on 
Red  Mountain  and  vicinity  are  of  the  vein  type  in  porphyry.  Those  farther 
down  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  are  near  the  contact  of  lime  and 
porphyry. 

Considerable  mineralization  occurs  on  West  Armells  Creek.  Several 
pockets  of  lead  ore  have  been  found  as  replacement  deposits  in  limestone. 
The  Cave  mine  produced  several  thousand  dollars  worth  of  lead-silver  ore 
from  such  a  pocket.  Ore  from  these  pockets  has  sometimes  been  concen- 
tratd  in  hand  jigs  before  sacking  for  shipment.  On  the  floor  of  Armells 
Creek  Canyon  is  a  surficial  bed  of  limonite  (bog  iron  ore)  deposited  from 
iron  springs.  Many  thousand  tons  are  exposed  but  it  is  unlikely  that  it 
will  have  any  value  in  the  near  future.  The  Sutter  Copper  Prospect  is  on 
the  ridge  between  two  forks  of  Armells  Creek.  The  property  is  developed 
with  a  short  tunnel  and  a  winze  30  feet  dep.  The  property  appears  to  be 
of  the  contact  metamorphic  type.  Limestone  overlies  porphyry  at  this 
place  and  the  porphyry  is  covered  with  a  pronounced  iron  cap  which 
shows  green  and  blue  copper  stains  in  some  places  and  considerable  evi- 
dence  of  leaching.      Further   development   would    seem    to   be  justified,    as 


— 31 — 

from  the  evidence  visible  it  seems  probable  that  secondary  enrichment  may 
have  occurred,  in  which  case  a  profitable  ore  body  would  result.  Two  car- 
loads of  ore  running  10-15  per  cent  copper  was  shipped  in  1917.  The  ore 
was  oxidized  and  consisted  chiefly  of  azurite,  malachite  and  crysocolla. 
Litigation  has  delayed  development.  There  are  other  copper  claims  on 
Armells  creek  from  which  some  ore  has  been  found.  They  all  lack  de- 
velopment. On  the  north  side  of  Armells  Creek,  not  far  above  the  stream, 
heavy  sulphides,  said  to  carry  gold,  have  been  found  in  a  short  tunnel  near 
a  lime  contact.     Traces  of  manganese  occur  on  Armells  Creek. 

The  Copper  King  group  on  Red  Mountain  is  developed  with  a  short 
tunnel  and  some  2-3  per  cent  copper  ore  has  been  found.  The  Cone  Butte 
mine  is  developed  with  a  shallow  shaft,  and  some  very  good  assays  have 
been  obtained.  It  has  not  been  worked  for  several  years.  On  Elk  Moun- 
tain there  are  sevral  small  lead-silver  properties  from  which  small  amounts 
of  ore  are  sometimes  shipped.  There  are  a  large  number  of  prospect 
cuts,  tunnels  and  shallow  shafts  in  the  Cone  Butte  district.  Assays  have 
been  secured  varying  from  a  few  cents  to  thousands  of  dollars  a  ton.  In 
general,  consistent  work  has  not  been  done  by  miners  and  prospectors 
in  the  Cone  Butte  section  and  the  presence  or  absence  of  profitable  ore 
bodies  remains  to  be  demonstrated. 

Claims  were  located  at  Gilt  Edge  in  1884  and  1885  by  William  Wilson 
("Limestone  Bill"),  Anderson  and  Munson.  The  ore  is  low  grade  and 
is  of  the  limestone  replacement  type.  Limestone  that  is  gold-bearing  is 
siliceous  and  generally  stained  with  iron  oxides.  It  contains  no  fluorite. 
Ore  bodies  usually  occur  near  the  contact  of  porphyry  and  lime,  and  the 
best  ore  was  found  in  the  soft  thin-bedded  upper  Carboniferous  lime- 
stones under  sheets  of  porphyry.  The  porphyry  is  sometimes  altered  and 
itself  forms  ore.  The  Gilt  Edge  mill  was  among  the  first  in  the  United 
States  to  apply  the  cyanide  process  for  the  extraction  of  gold.  The  process 
was  not  well  understood  at  first  and  considerable  gold  was  lost  in  the 
tailing.  For  several  years  following  1898  a  large  production  annually 
came  from  the  Gold  Ref  and  Great  Northern  properties.  During  this  time 
an  efficient  300-ton  cyanide  mill  extracted  about  $1,250,000  in  gold  from 
the  ore.  The  mill  was  dismantled  several  years  ago,  but  the  last  two 
years  a  small  cyanide  plant  was  erected  which  has  successfully  retreated 
the  tailings  from  the  old  mill. 

The  Whiskey  Gulch  mine  has  a  KtO-ton  cyanide  mill  and  produced 
$165,700  in  1903-1904  from  $5.50  gold  ore.  It  has  since  been  closed, 
but  considerable  low  Krade  ore  is  said  to  be  in  sight.  The  .Mammoth  Is 
equipped  with  a  100-ton  cyanide  plant,  but  has  produced  little  gold. 
Prospecting  has  been  done  on  the  Mammoth  and  other  nearby  claims  re- 
cently. Some  lead  ore  has  been  mined  mar  CiM  Kdge,  but  part  of  it 
contained  too  much  zinc  to  make  shipments  profitable,  as  lead  smelters 
penalize  ore  containing  zinc  since  it  interferes  with  their  methods  of 
smelting. 

Claims  were  located  in  New  Year  Gulch  in  the  early  Mi's,  but  although 
much  money  has  been  spent  on  development  work  the  production  has  been 
small.     The  values  are  in  gold  and  the  ore  occurs  as  replacements  of  lline- 

ne  underneath  sheel     ol   porphyry      The  x.-w    fear  has  a  cyanide  plant 

of  160  tons  capacity  and  is  connected   with   the  mine   workings  by  an  aerial 

tramway.     Little  ore  was  found  In  the  New   fear      The  Gold    lores  prop 

erty    adjoins    the    New    Year.       In     1916-1916    an     g00-fOOt     adit    and    drifi 
were   driven    on    this    property    without    disclosing    any    milling    <>re        Kinlau 


— 32 — 

and  Allister  have  claims  close  by  and  have  developed  some  ore  suitable 
ior  cyanidation. 

North  Moccasin   Mountains. 

Claims  were  located  in  the  North  Moccasin  Mountains  in  the  early 
eighties.  Two  small  stamp  mills  were  constructed  to  work  small  pyritic 
veins  in  porphyry  but  the  gold  content  was  too  small  for  profit  and  little 
remains  of  the  mills  today.  Small  placers  were  worked  at  intervals  for 
many  years,  but  their  total  gold  production  is  not  large.  The  real  develop- 
ment of  the  Kendall  mines  commenced  in  1898. 

The  Kendall  mine  was  the  first  to  be  developed  in  the  Moccasins. 
Harry  Kendall  purchased  the  original  claim  from  Charles  Allen  for  $6  50 
and  the  adjoining  Klondike  for  $1,500  from  Ira  Knapp  and  A.  B.  Hopkins. 
He  built  a  small  mill  to  treat  the  ore  and  in  November,  1900,  sold  the 
mine  to  the  Finch  interest  of  Spokane  for  $400,000,  receiving  $360,000 
cash  and  1-10  interest  in  the  mine.  A  500-ton  mill  was  built  and  a  shaft 
was  sunk  to  a  depth  of  620  feet  and  a  power  plant  constructed  on  Warm 
Spring  Creek.  From  May  1,  1901-1912  the  Kendall  produced  $3,741,364.58 
from  775,686  tons  of  ore.  The  Kendall  was  capitalized  for  $2,000,000 
and  paid  $1,555,000  in  dividends.  To  avoid  threatened  litigation  the 
Barnes-King  bought  the  mine   and   other  property   for   $100,000   early   in 

1917.  The  last  four  years  the  mine  has  been  operated  under  lease,  and 
from  June  1,  1915,  to  December  31,  1918,  $98,409.02  was  recovered  from 
39,923  tons  of  ore.  The  low  grade  ore  has  come  entirely  from  a  big  open 
cut  and  an  output  is  maintained  of  several  thousand  dollars  a  month,  ex- 
cept when  heavy  snow  interferes  with  mining.  The  ore  body  of  the  Kendall 
is  generally  elliptical  in  shape  but  with  irregular  boundaries  and  some- 
times is  over  300  feet  in  diameter.  It  occurs  at  the  contact  of  a  dike  of 
rhyolite  porphyry  and  limestone.  Both  lime  and  porphyry  have  been  re- 
placed by  gold  and  form  ore.  The  size  of  the  ore  body  decreased  in 
depth  and  is  believed  to  be  worked  out  except  near  the  surface. 

Claims  were  located  on  replacement  deposits  in  limestone  to  the  north 
of  the  Kendall  mine  as  early  as  1887  by  Barnes,  Wunderlin,  Woodman 
and  King.  They  gradually  added  to  their  holdings  until  they  controlled 
over  200  acres  adjacent  to  the  town  of  Kendall.  A  company  composed 
chiefly  of  Butte  people,  purchased  the  property  in  1906.  The  company 
was  capitalized  for  $2,000,000.  The  ores  proved  low  grade  and  the  com- 
pany made  little  profit,  although  a  total  of  over  $1,500,000  in  gold  was 
produced.  The  mine  was  developed  by  a  long  tunnel,  shaft  and  drifts, 
and  the  old  workings  exceed  two  miles  in  extent.  A  new  management 
took  charge  in  1912,  reconstructed  the  200-ton  cyanide  mill  and  abandoned 
the  old  workings  and  purchased  the  North  Moccasin  property.  The  North 
Moccasin  is  located  between  the  original  Barnes-King  and  the  Kendall 
and  had  already  produced  $250,000  in  gold,  mostly  from  an  open  cut.  A 
shaft  on  the  Santiago  claim  was  deepened  to  500  feet  with  an  incline  to  a 
further  depth,  and  careful  development  work  disclosed  a  large  ore  body. 
The  ore  body  is  of  lenticular  form.  It  varies  from  a  few  inches  to  50 
feet  thick  and  in  some  places  is  400  feet  wide.  It  dips  steeply  at  the  sur- 
face and  flattens  out  below  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  It  has  been  developed 
for  1,200  feet  on  the  dip.  A  large  part  of  the  ore  body  is  stoped  out,  from 
which  the   Barnes-King  has   recovered    $1,909,935.58    up   to   December   31, 

1918.  The  ore  averages  about  $8-$10  in  gold  per  ton,  of  which  90  per 
cent  is  recovered.  The  best  grade  of  ore,  worth  $20-$30  per  ton,  was 
mined  below  the  bottom   of  the   shaft.      This  ore  contained   so   much   car- 


— 33 — 

bonaceous  matter  that  it  interfered  with  the  cyanide  process  and  had  to 
be  roasted  before  cyanidation.  At  about  1,200  feet  on  the  dip  or  nearly 
700  feet  below  the  surface,  the  ore  body  is  thin  and  lower  in  grade.  Most 
of  the  ore  now  comes  from  the  upper  levels.  Careful  assays  are  necessary 
to  tell  the  ore  from  worthless  limestone.  The  Barnes-King  ore  body 
dips  with  the  limestone  strata  and  no  porphyry  is  exposed  in  the  workings. 
The  limestone  was  uplifted  by  a  laccolithic  intrusion  which  was  probably 
the  source  of  the  gold-bearing  solutions.  The  flattened  strata  in  the  bottom 
of  the  Barnes-King  mine  indicate  that  the  laccolith  does  not  extend  far 
below  the  town  of  Kendall.  The  Barnes-King  Development  Company 
has  paid  dividends  of  $300,000  up  to  March,   1919. 

The  ore  body  of  the  Barnes-King  occurs  in  the  thin  beds  of  limestone 
at  the  top  of  the  carboniferous,  and  under  the  Jurassic  shales  and  sand- 
stones. This  zone  is  stained  yellow  and  red  with  iron  oxide  in  a  belt  near- 
ly surrounding  the  Moccasins.  Ar  great  deal  of  prospecting  has  been 
done  along  this  zone  by  shafts  and  tunnels  and  some  low  grade  ore  has 
been  found,  but  no  other  mines  have  been  developed. 

The  Golden  Discovery  was  near  the  Kendall  and  considerable  sums 
were  spent  on  development  work  on  the  property.  Some  good  ore  was 
found  but  no  considerable  body  of  ore  was  discovered  and  the  property  has 
not  been  worked  for  the  last  decade.  Quite  a  little  work  was  done  on  the 
Gold  Links  near  by  without  profitable  results. 

The  Abbey,  north  of  the  old  Barnes-King,  sunk  a  shaft  some  years 
ago  and  drifted  in  on  the  mineralized  zone  but  found  no  commercial  ore 
body.  The  North  Kendall,  on  the  north  side  of  the  mountains,  developed  by 
a  tunnel  and  other  workings  which  cut  some  low  grade  gold  ore.  Develop- 
ment work  has  been  done  during  the  last  few  years  on  this  property. 
Considerable   prospecting  has  been   done  on   the   Weal    Kendall    by    tunnels 

i'nd   winzes.     Some  gold  ore  and  galena   has  1 n   developed   chiefly   along 

the  contact  of  lime  and  porphyry.  Considerable  topaz,  which  cuts  Into 
clear  transparent  gems,  resembling  diamonds,  has  come  from  the  West 
Kendall. 

Little    Belt    and    Oilier    Mountain    (ironps. 

Considerable   time  and   money   has  been   spenl    in    the   South    Moccasins 
in    searching    for   ore   bodies.      Claims   have   been    staked    on    yellow    -and 
stone,   decayed    porphyry   and    limestone    porphyry   contacta      Low    grade 
ere  has  been  found  in  small  stringers  in  Jurassic  sandstone  on   the  south 
slopes  of  the  mountains,  and   traces  elsewhere 

A  prospect  of   galena   and   zinc  ore   was   mined   on    the    Hardly    Aide    prop 
erty   in   the  broad   valley    between    Hanover   and    the   mountains       It    is   sur- 
rounded by  shale  and  sandstone.     While  a  dike  and  sheel  of  porphyry  are 
near  by,  the  writer  believes  thai    'in-   mineralisation   In   the   pocket    and 
fracture  zones  of  the  Mesozoic  sandstane  resulted  from  precipitation  from 

COOl  meteorie  waters  that,  dissolved  the  metals  from  a  disseni  inateil  form 
in    the   porphyry   of   the    mountain    mass       The    fr.nture,   ;)re    tilled    with    well 

formed  calclte  crystals,  ho  it  seems  probable  thai  the  solutions  were  cool 

and    had    nol  tided    from   an  deptfa        A    Capplfl  >  nierly 

overlay  the  sandstone  ami  restricted  mineralisation  to  It  No  important 
ore  body  has  been  found  in  the  brecclated  sandstone 

Prospecting  for  gold   ami   copper   has   been   done    in   the   Big   Sno\\\    Moun 

tains  especially  in  Swimming  Woman  Canyon      The  prospects  are  Iocs 
rn  fracture  zones  in   black  and   green   shale  of  the   Bell    Series,   whicb   bave 


— 34 — 

been  filled  with  calcite  and  iron  oxide.  Nothing  of  value  has  been  found. 
A  few  prospects  were  located  on  iron  stained  limestones,  but  nothing  of 
value  has  been  found. 

Gold  was  discovered  in  that  part  of  the  Little  Belts  which  are  in  Fergus 
County,  near  Yogo,  in  1879,  and  soon  the  town  had  a  population  of  1,200, 
but  development  work  failed  to  disclose  important  ore  bodies  and  the 
placers  also  proved  disappointing,  hence  the  old  town  was  abandoned  in 
1883.  Considerable  prospecting  has  been  done  on  the  mountain  slopeB 
along  Dry  Wolf  and  Running  Wolf  Creeks.  Lead-silver  ore  predominate 
in  this  district,  and  work  has  ben  done  on  some  copper  prospects.  The 
ore  occurs  as  replacements  in  limestone  near  contacts  with  intrusive  igne- 
ous rocks.  The  ore  bodies  have  usually  proved  small  and  pockety,  but 
some  rich  ore  has  been  mined.  The  production  has  amounted  to  possibly 
$100,000,  of  which  the  Mountainside  is  credited  with  $30,000.  The  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  Weatherwax  and  Woodhurst  produced  lead  and  silver  ore  in 
the  past  and  a  few  crystals  of  vanadinite  were  found  in  the  Sir  Walter 
Scott.  The  Yankee  Girl  shipped  several  carloads  of  complex  ore  of  lead, 
copper,  silver,  gold  and  zinc  in  1916-1917.  An  extensive  deposit  of  high- 
grade  hematite  occurs  on  Woodhurst  Mountain  and  smaller  bodies  of  iron 
ore  have  been  found  elsewhere  in  the  Little  Belts. 

Production. 

The  total  production  of  metals  in  Fergus  County  has  been  probably  over 
$18,000,000  by  the  end  of  1918,  of  which  the  Judiths  produced  a  little 
more  than  half.  The  remainder  mostly  came  from  the  North  Moccasins. 
The  totals  are  estimated  as  follows:  Judiths,  over  $10,000,000;  North 
Moccasins,  nearly  $8,000,000;  Eastern  Little  Belts,  $100,000.  In  addition 
about  $2,000,000  of  raw  sapphires  have  come  from  Yogo  and  other  millions 
of  coal,  gypsum,  brick  lime  and  cement  rock,  bringing  the  total  value  of 
the  mineral  produced  in  Fergus  County  to  the  end  of  1918  to  nearly 
$25,000,000. 


CATTIiE     ON     THK    RAX  UK. 


—  35— 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Mineral    Fuel    Resources    of    Fergus    County. 

The  only  developed  mineral  resource  of  Fergus  County  is  coal,  but 
there  are  favorable  possibilities  for  oil  and  gas,  and  prospecting  for 
them  is  in  active  progress. 

Coal. 

The  Kootenai  formation  contains  almost  all  the  valuable  coal,  but 
coal  for  local  use  near  the  Missouri  can  be  mined  from  the  Eagle  and 
Judith  River  formations.  There  are  indications  of  coal  in  the  Lance. 
The  carbonaceous  shales  of  the  Quadrant  and  Colorado  formations  have 
been  prospected  for  coal  at  various  times,  but  there  are  no  workable  beds 
in  those  formations.  Millions  of  tons  of  coal  have  been  mined  at 
Roundup  from  Tertiary  formations,  but  this  is  now  included  in  Mussel- 
shell  County. 

There  are  three  beds  of  coal  in  the  Kootenai,  near  its  base.  The  best 
bed  underlies  a  thick  bedded  sandstone  that  forms  prominent  bluffs 
and  usually  the  coal  can  be  mined  by  drifts  on  the  side  of  the  valley. 
In  many  places  the  Kootenai  coal  is  of  too  poor  quality  to  mine.  The 
best  coal  is  found  on  McDonald  Creek  Divide  and  between  Forest  Grove 
and  Gilt  Edge,  on  Boyd  Creek,  southeast  of  Lewistown  up  Spring  Creek, 
and  at  Lehigh.  Fairly  good  coal  is  mined  near  Utica  and  at  Saager 
Canyon,  near  the  Belts,  toward  the  head  of  Beaver  Creek,  in  the  foot- 
hills of  the  Snowies,  and  in  the  valley  of  Warm  Spring  Creek,  east  of 
Brooks.  The  coal  is  of  poor  quality  around  the  Moccasins  and  at  Judith 
Gap.  It  is  too  deeply  buried  to  be  mined  at  present  prices  in  the  Judith 
Basin,  west  of  Lewistown,  until  an  upfold  of  the  strata  exposes  the  coal 
beds  at  Lehigh.  There  are  many  hundred  million  tons  of  coal  in  Fergus 
County,  and  about  a  million  tons  has  been  mined  so  far  and  sold  for 
over  $2,000,000.  Fergus  County  coal  suffers  because  mining  is  expensive, 
due  to  the  thin  beds  and  from  competition  with  the  better  grade  of  coal 
coming  from  Roundup,  Red  Lodge  and  Wyoming.  The  Kootenai  coal  is 
classified  as  a  bituminous  coal.  Should  occasion  demand  it,  the  output 
of  coal  in  Fergus  County  can  be  largely  increased.  It  now  amounts  to 
about    300,000   tons   a   year. 

Most  of  the  coal  mined  in  Fergus  County  comes  from  Lehigh.  The 
Cottonwood  Coal  Company  operates  two  mint's  there  and  is  producing 
1,000  tons  per  day  which  can  easily  be  Increased.  One  mine  is  a  shallow 
shaft,  the  other  is  a  drift  mine.  The  coal  bed  is  about  eight  feet  thick, 
and  contains  considerable  bone  and  shale  This  and  the  coal  dust  are 
removed  by  washing.  The  Cottonwood  Coal  Company  operates  the  largest 
coal  washing  plant   in  Montana  where  the  waste  La  removed)  and  carried 

by    an    aerial    train     hundreds    of    yards    away    and    dumped     into    a    eoulee. 

Several  hundred  men  are  employed  In  the  mines.  The  coal  is  mostly 
used  by  the  Great  Northern  Railway.  The  company  started  selling  coal 
from   its   first    mine   in    L914    and    its  drift    mine   in    1918. 

The  old  Qebo  mine,  in  South   Lewistown,   produced  considerable  coal 

in    the    past    and    is    still    operated    in    a    small    way.       Other    mines    up    Spring 

<"re.  k  produce  several  hundred  tons  a  year  and  are  operated  at   Interval! 
Good   coal    la   produced   on    McDonald   Creek    Divide   and    man]    thousand 
tons  are  annually  produced   from     everal   small   mines.     Their  output    Ih 
hauled  to  market  in  wagons.     Producing  minei  Include  the  Black  Diamond, 
Cox,   and    WeingardtB.      The   Jackmnn    mine,    near    Forest    Grove,    ship':    bj 


I 


I  MK  FLAT  LAND  ALONG  TBD0  CREEK  IS  THE  FLOODPLAIN  OP  THE  STREAM 
THE    ROLLING    LAND   IN    THE    BACKGROUND   IS    FOOTHILL    LAND,    VALUAB] 

FORMED  WHEN  THE  RP7ERS  FLO 


■ 


t  **S* '- " 


1 


TOM  LAND,"  EXTENSIVE  PLAT  ABOVE  THE  STREAM,  \  "BENCH"  AND 
GRAZING.  THE  BENCHES  ARE  THE  BEST  GRAIN  LAND  AND  WERE 
\  HIGHER   LEVEL  THAN    AT    PR1  81  VT. 


— 38 — 

rail  to  Lewistown,  as  it  is  located  but  a  few  hundred  feet  from  the  rail- 
way. Alines  near  Gilt  Edge  and  New  Year  help  supply  the  nearby 
ranchers  and  before  the  decadence  of  the  gold  mining  industry  the  coal 
was  demanded  for  power  by  the  gold  mines.  Mines  at  Saager  Canyon, 
and  on  Rock  Creek  and  Beaver  Creek  are  work  in  a  small  way  each  year. 
A  low  grade  coal  occurs  in  the  Judith  River  formation  in 
parts  of  Northern  Fergus  County,  but  only  carbonaceous  shale 
occurs  in  the  Southeastern  section.  The  coal  is  overlain  by  a 
bed  of  oyster  shells  a  few  inches  thick  that  makes  a  good, 
marker.  The  coal  will  not  pay  to  mine  on  a  large  scale,  but  fuel 
is  scarce  owing  to  the  treeless  character  of  much  of  the  country  and  the 
coal  can  be  mined  by  the  ranchers  for  their  own  use  as  at  Cutbank,  east 
of  Winifred.  Considerable  prospecting  for  coal  has  been  done  along 
Dog  Creek.  The  Eagle  sandstone  contains  thin  beds  of  fairly  good  coal 
between  Fullerton  and  Judith  P.  O.  and  near  Deerfield,  which  are  capable 
of  small  production.  There  are  many  faults  in  Northern  Fergus  County 
for  20  miles  south  of  the  Missouri.  These  faults  bring  the  Eagle  sand- 
stane  and  Judith  River  formations  to  the  surface  and  makes  the  coal  out- 
crop more  widely  than  it  otherwise  would.  Unfortunately  the  tipping  of 
the  coal  bed  makes  mining  difficult  and  ha^  caused  the  coal  near  the 
outcrop  to  slack  and  weather  to  worthless  material.  It  is  very  unlikely, 
that  any  coal  will  be  mined  in  the  Eagle  Sandstone  and  Judith  River 
beds  of  Fergus  County  except  to  supply  a  limited  local  demand. 

Petroleum  and  Natural  Gas. 

Petroleum  in  commercial  quantities  has  not  been  discovered  in  Fer- 
gus County,  but  prospecting  is  actively  in  progress  and  an  important 
discovery  may  be  considered  possible.  Nearly  a  dozen  oil  companies  have 
been  organized  for  business  in  Fergus  County,  some  of  which  never 
pass  the  promotion  stage,  but  wells  have  been  drilled  by  four  of  them. 

Oil  may  occur  in  the  rocks  under  variable  conditions,  but  experience 
shows  that  ti  most  frequently  is  found  when  certain  geologic  require- 
ments are  satisfied,  and  by  searching  to  see  if  these  are  present  much 
time  and  money  can  be  saved  on  prospecting.  First  there  should  be  a 
source  for  oil  and  this  is  generally  considered  to  be  formed  from  decaying 
plant  and  animal  matter  deposited  when  the  rocks  were  laid  down.  Oil 
seepages  may  indicate  the  presence  of  oil  but  are  not  a  safe  criterion  in 
determining  if  it  is  present  in  commercial  quantities.  Iron  hydroxide  on 
water  has  an  iridescence  similar  to  oil,  and  decaying  vegetation  in  stag- 
nant water  liberates  gas  and  oil,  sometimes  mistaken  for  petroleum.  Oil 
most  frequently  is  formed  in  peculiar  black  shales  and  bituminous  lime- 
stone but  these  are  usually  too  dense  to  make  good  reservoirs  for  deposits 
of  oil.  There  should  be  present  a  porous  rock,  usually  sandstone,  to  act 
as  a  reservoir  and  this  should  be  capped  with  an  impervious  stratum  in 
order  that  the  oil  and  gas  shall  not  escape.  Experience  shows  that  to 
form  commercial  pools  of  oil  the  petroleum  widely  distributed  in  the 
rocks  should  be  caused  to  migrate  from  its  source  and  to  accumulate  in 
a  limited  area.  The  agent  generally  believed  to  cause  the  migration  is 
water  and  the  oil  pools  usually  collect  in  anticlines  or  upfolds  of  the 
earth's  crust,  since  oil  is  lighter  than  water,  and  if  present  in  porous 
rocks  rises  to  the  top  of  the  water  and  collects  in  the  highest  places 
possible.  Gas,  if  present,  will  be  at  the  top  of  the  anticline,  with  petroleum 
below  it,  and  farther  down  the  dip  of  the  rocks. 

In   prospecting  for   petroleum   the   structure   of  the   rocks  should   first 


—39— 

be  studied.  An  anticline,  dome  or  other  upward  movement  of  the  earth's 
crust  is  not  necessarily  coincident  with  an  elevation  of  the  present  sur- 
face of  the  earth  but  more  often  its  center  is  a  valley  worn  by  streams 
since  it  was  first  formed.  An  anticline  must  be  mapped  by  the  dips  of  the 
rocks.  Faults  are  breaks  in  the  earth's  crust.  Where  a  fault  has  re- 
sulted in  tipping  the  strata,  oil  and  gas  may  occur  at  the  top  of  inclined 
beds  of  porous  rock  where  such  reservoir  rocks  are  sealed  by  dense  cap 
locks  the   same  as   in   anticlines. 

Study  has  shown  that  there  is  a  possibility  that  oil  exists  in  the 
Quadrant  formation  of  Upper  Carboniferous  age  and  in  the  Colorado 
shale  of  Cretaceous  age.  Some  production  of  petroleum  has  come  from 
the  Quadrant,  in  Southern  Wyoming,  and  evidences  of  the  presence  of  oil 
in  the  Quadrant  has  been  found  in  Central  Montana.  The  Colorado  shale, 
or  formations  correlated  with  it,  produces  most  of  the  petroleum  and 
natural  gas  in  Wyoming  and  Western  Canada.  Gas  has  been  found  in 
the  Colorado  at  Baker  and  Glendive,  in  Montana,  and  petroleum  in  Elk 
Basin,  in  Carbon  County.  The  gas  at  Havre  is  thought  to  come  from  the 
Eagle   sandstone. 

Oil  and  gas  prospecting  in  Fergus  County  will  be  taken  up  by  describ- 
ing the  companies  organized  for  business  in  this  locality,  a  few  concerns 
whose  office  is  Lewistown,  are  included  even  if  they  are  drilling  else- 
where. 

The  Fergus  Oil  &  Gas  Company  was  organized  in  1913,  with  M.  W. 
Boerema  and  later  Dr.  J.  H.  P.  Gauss  as  president.  Several  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  stock  was  sold,  but  promotion  expenses  absorbed  this 
and  the  company  ceased  an  active  existence  before  doing  any  prospecting 
for  oil  or  gas.     It  was  capitalized  for  $250,000. 

The  Tanberg  Oil  Company  was  organized  in  1913  with  Lewistown  men 
the  chief  stockholders.  Its  operations  have  been  limited  to  Southern 
Montana,  and  to  Wyoming  fields,  where  the  concern  owns  a  large  gas 
well  in  Little  Buffalo  Basin. 

A  terrace   structure   at   the   foot   of   the   Little   Belts,   west   of   Garneill. 
was   leased   by  Judith   Gap   parties   in    1916.      The   possibility   for  oil   there 
is    in   the    Quadrant.      The    structure    has    never   been    tested    by    the   drill. 
A   company   is   drilling   south   of   the    Little    Melts,    on    Mile    Creek,   and    I  a 
pects  to  test  out  both  the  Colorado  and  Quadrant    formations  in  their  well 

The  Kansas-Montana  Oil  Company  was  organized  in  1917  to  prosped 

the  Winifred  field,  Men  from  Kansas  are  the  Chief  stockholders.  The 
field  has  been  considered  to  possess  oil  and  gas  possibilities  by  men 
from  the  U.  S.  Geological   Survey   and   was  reported   on   favorably    b>    Chai 

N.  Gould  and  other  petroleum  geologists.     The  company   has  leased 
eral  thousand  acres  and  is  drilling  with  a  standard  rig  on  a  faulted  dome 
ticture  with  very  steep  dips,  about   three  nub      northeast   of   Winifred 
The  well  was  2,200  feel  deep  m  May,  L919      The  base  of  the  Colorado  lies 
about  2,500  feet  deep  on   thli      tructure   with   the  Judith    itivei 
posed  at  the  surface.     The  ESagle  sandstone  was  struck  at   800  feel   deptb 

and    contained    a    little    gas    and    BhO^t  Oil.       A    small    amount    of    oil 

was  found  in  a  shallow  well  dug  for  water  west  of  Winifred 

The    Home    oil    Company    R  in     1917,    with    .1      ED     Loren 

president  and    manager.     The  company   is  capitalised    for   $1 .nun   with 

par  value  for  the  stock  of  LO  cents  8  share  Fergus  County  citizen  ;ire 
largely   interested    in    the   company,    which    started    drilling    with    .-.   standard 

rig  at  Sour  Dough  Springs,  about    L0  miles  east  of  Winifred,  In   August, 


— 40 — 

191S.  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  had  reached  a  depth  of  nearly  1,000  feet. 

The  Judith  Oil  Company  was  organized  in  1917  with  Lewistown  men 
the  chief  stockholders.  The  capital  was  $100,000.  Fred  Warren  was 
president.  The  company  controls  over  20,000  acres  of  leases  and  drilled 
a  well  in  1917  and  1918  nearly  700  feet  about  a  mile  from  the  railroad 
siding  of  Piper,  on  a  dome  on  the  McDonald  Creek  Divide.  Production 
was  looked  for  in  the  Quadrant,  which  was  penetrated  by  the  drill  for 
almost  its  entire  thickness.  Small  amounts  of  gas  and  a  trace  of  oil  were 
found.  Three  porous  sands  were  passed  through,  but  each  contained 
water  under  a  great  head  which  made  such  a  great  flow  of  pure  artesian 
water  that  drilling  was  somewhat   hampered. 

The  Grass  Range  Oil  Company  was  organized  late  in  1916  by  Lewis- 
town  and  Grass  Range  men  and  leased  20,000  acres  on  a  big  dome  at 
Button  Butte,  about  10  miles  southwest  of  Grass  Range.  The  company's 
holdings  were  reported  upon  favorably  in  1917  by  E.  A.  Ritter,  a  geologist 
of  Denver.  The  Jurassic  formation  is  exposed  at  the  surface  and  the  pos- 
sibility for  oil  lies  in  the  Quadrant  formation.  The  company  sold  some 
stock  and  tried  to  interest  producing  oil  companies  in  testing  out  the 
big  dome  but  was  unsuccessful.  It  did  not  start  drilling  operations  on  its 
own  account. 

In  1917  a  small  flow  of  gas  was  struck  at  16  5  feet  in  a  well  bored 
for  water  on  the  Dengle  Bros.'  ranch,  north  of  Grass  Range.  John  A. 
Coleman  of  Lewistown  and  others  soon  organized  the  Ford  Creek  Oil 
Company,  with  a  capital  of  $500,000,  and  leased  11,000  acres  of  ground. 
Drilling  was  done  with  a  portable  rig  in  1917  and  1918,  and  continued 
to  a  depth  of  about  650  feet.  Operations  were  suspended  in  the  summer 
of  1918.  In  order  to  test  out  the  Colorado  at  this  point  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  drill  to  a  depth  of  1,200-1,500  feet.  The  formation  is  perfectly 
flat  here  and  if  oil  is  present  it  would  probably  be  in  thin  lenses  of 
sandstone  at  the  base  of  the  Colorado. 

In  1918  the  North  Basin  Oil  &  Gas  Company  was  organized  by  resi- 
dents of  the  Winifred  district  with  a  capitalization  of  $100,000.  Some 
leases  were  secured. 

The  Judith  Basin  Oil  Company  was  organized  in  1918  by  Billings  and 
Moore  men  with  the  intention  of  prospecting  for  oil  near  Moore. 

The  Sapphire  Oil  &  Gas  Company  was  incorporated  by  Lewistown 
men  in  1918  with  a  capital  of  $75,000,  which  was  increased  to  $100,000 
in  1919.  The  company  own  3,000  acres  of  leases  near  Chanute,  Kansas, 
and  by  the  end  of  1918  had  23  producing  wells.  The  Lewistown  Oil 
Company,  capitalized  for  $500,000,  was  organized  in  1919,  and  owns  con- 
siderable good  ground  in  Southeastern  Kansas,  with  several  producing 
wells. 

The  structure  of  Southeastern  Fergus  County  is  favorable  in  many 
places  for  oil  and  gas  accumulation.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
presence  or  obsence  of  oil  in  commercial  quantities  cannot  be  told  in 
advance  of  drilling  operations.  Southeastern  Fergus  County  is  a  geanti- 
cline or  anticlinorium,  that  is  a  very  large  upfold  on  which  are  minor 
anticlines  and  domes.  One  limb  of  this  gigantic  upfold  runs  from  Black 
Butte  across  Box  Elder  Creek  southeast  to  the  Musselshell,  which  it  crosses 
near  Mosby.  The  strata  often  dips  north  very  steeply  from  this  limb. 
The  southern  limb  runs  from  the  Snowy  Mountains  through  Northern 
Musselshell  County  into  Northeastern  Rosebud  and  Southwestern  Garfield 
County,  where  it  joins  the  northern  limb.     An  immense  dome  with  slight 


— 41— 

dips,  farther  east,  called  the  Porcupine  dome,  may  be  regarded  as  an  ex- 
tension of  this  immense  anticline,  which  measures  over  50  miles  from 
north  to  south  and  100  miles  from  east  to  west.  There  are  many  small 
domes  on  McDonald  Creek  Divide  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  western 
limits  of  the  geanticline.  Superimposed  on  this  geanticline  are  at  least 
three  long  anticlines  or  series  of  connected  domes.  The  most  southerly 
luns  from  the  Little  Snowies  on  a  curving  line  through  Devil's  Basin, 
in  Musselshell  County,  towards  the  Bend  of  the  Musselshell.  A  Roundup 
company  has  drilled  a  well  in  Devil's  Basin  and  leased  a  big  acreage  on 
this  fold.  The  middle  anticline  is  really  a  series  of  domes,  of  which 
Button  Butte,  on  Elk  Creek,  is  the  most  westerly.  On  Yellow  Water  Creek, 
southwest  of  Winnett,  is  a  large  dome  on  which  H.  J.  Knowles  of  San 
Francisco  has  leased  4,000  acres.  This  axis  of  this  fold  runs  a  short  dis- 
tance north  of  Flatwillow  for  many  miles  and  follows  it  down  toward  the 
Musselshell.  The  most  northerly  anticline  starts  near  the  junction  of  Ford 
Creek  and  Box  Elder  and  runs  about  east  toward  the  Musselshell.  Several 
domes  have  been  worked  out  on  it.  One  of  these  has  been  leased  by  a 
California  company  called  the  Big  Six,  and  other  sections  by  Wright  and 
associates,  who  are  drilling  for  oil  south  of  the  Little  Belts.  A  small 
flow  of  gas  was  encountered  ina  well  drilled  for  water  in  a  saddle  between 
two  of  these  slightly  dipping  domes.  The  Musselshell  Valley  Oil  com- 
pany was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1919  and  obtained  leases  northeast 
of  Winnett.  From  a  geological  standpoint  it  seems  probable  that  pros- 
pecting for  oil  on  some  of  the  domes  in  the  Winnett  section  by  those  who 
can  afford  the  risk  is  justified.  Oil  and  gas,  if  present,  will  be  found 
near  the  base  of  the  Colorado  shale,  which  lies  1,500-3,000  feet  below  the 
surface  on  the  minor  anticlines. 


— 42 — 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Non-Metallic  Minerals  Other  Than  Fuels. 

Sapphire,  the  gem  form  of  corundum,  occurs  as  flat  rhombohedral 
disseminated  crystals  in  a  dike  of  dark  colored  igneous  rock  at  Yogo, 
in  the  foothills  of  the  Little  Belt  Mountains.  The  surrounding  rock  is 
carboniferous  limestone.  The  sapphire  bearing  dike  is  six  miles  long, 
12  to  20  feet  wide,  and  of  unknown  depth.  Most  of  the  sapphires  found 
in  the  world  come  from  Yogo,  except  those  recovered  from  placers. 

Sapphires  were  discovered  in  the  nineties  in  placers  mined  for  gold. 
There  was  not  sufficient  gold  to  make  its  recovery  profitable,  but  the  sap- 
phires were  traced  to  their  source  in  1894.  Many  claims  were  located  along 
the  dike  and  the  weathered  rock  was  mined  in  open  cuts  and  the  sap- 
phires washed  out  by  hand  methods.  Later  the  dike  was  owned  by  two 
companies — the  New  Sapphire  Mining  Syndicate,  Limited,  of  London  and 
the  American  mine.  The  London  company  purchased  the  American  mine 
in    1914   and  now   controls  the  entire   output  of   sapphires. 

The  sapphire  bearing  rock  is  now  mined  by  underground  methods, 
and  the  freshly  mined  rock  is  dumped  on  wooden  floors,  where  it  is  sub- 
jected to  weathering  until  considerably  decayed.  Then  the  dirt  is  washed 
through  sluices  and  the  sapphires  being  heavier  than  the  matrix  ma- 
terial sink  to  the  bottom  and  are  collected  from  the  riffles.  This  process 
is  repeated  on  several  floors  each  below  the  other  until  probably  9  5  per 
cent  of  the  sapphires  are  recovered.  The  sapphires  collected  from  the 
riffles  are  mixed  with  pyrite  and  various  other  heavy  minerals.  At  the 
English  mine  this  material  was  concentrated  in  a  jig,  at  the  American 
mine  a  magnetic  separator  was  used.  Few  sapphires  are  cut  and  pol- 
ished in  the  United  States.  Most  of  them  are  exported  to  London,  Ant- 
werp and  Amsterdam,  to  be  prepared  for  market  there.  They  are  then 
reimported  into  America  and  we  have  to  pay  15  per  cent  import  duties  on 
them  as  well  as  paying  Europe  for  their  manufacture.  Small  and  im- 
perfect sapphires  are  used  for  watch  jewels,  meter  bearings,  phonograph 
points,  etc. 

The  annual  value  of  sapphires  mined  at  Yogo  before  the  war  was 
about  $250,000.  The  total  product  is  probably  worth  $1,500,000.  The 
war  has  caused  an  almost  total  suspension  of  mining  at  Yogo  for  the 
last  four  years.  The  sapphires  produced  from  Yogo  exceeded  the  value 
of  all  other  gems  mined  in  the  entire  rest  of  the  United  States. 

Th  sapphires  were  formed  in  the  igneous  dike  by  crystallization  from 
the  molten  mass.  The  corundum  probably  was  derived  by  differentia- 
tions of  the  original  material  but  might  have  resulted  from  the  incor- 
poration of  Cambrian  shales  into  the  molten  rock  as  it  broke  and  fused 
its  way  towards  the  surface.  Curiously  enough  similar  appearing  dikes 
nearby  are  barren  of  sapphires. 

A  considerable  quantity  of  gem  topaz  has  been  produced  from  the 
West  Kendall  mine,  in  the  North  Moccasin  Mountains.  Some  has  been 
cut  into  clear,  fine  appearing  precious  stones.  The  output  has  been  worth 
many  hundred  of  dollars  and  could  be  increased.  Many  "sapphires"  picked 
tip  in  the  bench  gravels  of  the  Judith  Basin  are  nothing  but  quartz,  though 
some  make  pretty  settings  when  cut.  Garnet  occurs  in  the  Judiths  and 
Belts,  but  not  of  gem  quality. 

Gypsum  occurs  in  Fergus  County  as  diamond  shaped  crystals,  scat- 
tered through  black  shale,  of  Cretaceous  age,  in  the  badlands,  and  thick 
pure  beds  in  the  Ellis  formation  of  Jurrasic  age.      Gypsum  also  occurs  in 


—43 — 

the  Quadrant  of  Alaska  Bench.  The  beds  seem  to  have  been  formed  by 
evaporation  of  sea  water  in  lagoons  and  small  bodies  of  water.  As  the 
water  evaporated  it  would  become  supersaturated  with  gypsum  and  the 
mineral  would  be  precipitated.  Purge  gypsum  beds,  10-30  feet  thick, 
occur  at  Hanover,  on  East  Fork  of  Spring  Creek,  south  of  Forest  Grove, 
on  Alaska  Bench,  near  Tyler  on  Flatwillow  Creek,  etc.  No  workable  beds 
of  gypsum  occur  around  the  Judiths,  North  Moccasins  or  eastern  slopes 
of  the  Belts.  Gypsum  contains  water  of  crystallization.  When  heated  this 
water  is  expelled  and  plaster  of  paris  formed.  Wall  plaster  is  made  by 
mixing  hair  with  the  dehydrated  gypsum.  At  Hanover  the  gypsum  is 
mined  by  underground  tunnels  and  stopes  like  coal,  three  feet  of  gypsum 
being  left  to  make  a  safe  roof.  The  gypsum  is  crushed  and  powdered, 
then  put  in  a  big  iron  kettle  and  calcined;  that  is,  heated  to  several  hun- 
dred degrees,  in  order  to  drive  off  the  water  of  crystallization.  The  Han- 
over gypsum  plant  is  operated  by  the  Three  Forks  Company  and  can 
produce  200  tons  of  wall  plaster  each  day.  It  started  producing  in  1916. 
it  was  first  operated  by  a  company  of  Lewistown  men  and  was  sold  to 
the  Three  Forks  Company  late  in  19 1G. 

The  U.  S.  Gypsum  Company  has  developed  a  great  deposit  of  gypsum 
near  Heath,  10  miles  southeast  of  Lewistown.  This  is  known  as  the 
Casofour  Plant.  It  is  developed  by  two  inclines  several  hundred  feet  lony 
connected  by  a  drift.  An  immense  amount  of  gypsum  is  in  sight  and 
mining  can  be  cheaply  done.  The  war  delayed  completion  of  the  plant 
but  a  large  mill  will  be  built  as  soon  as  peace  comes. 

There  are  millions  of  tons  of  gypsum  in  Fergus  County.  Only  those 
deposits  then  which  are  conveniently  located  to  railroads  will  pay  to  ex- 
ploit under  present  circumstances.  The  same  is  true  regarding  lime- 
stone and   clay. 

Fergus  County  is  well  supplied  with  most  construction  materials 
which  include  limestone,  sandstone,  granite,  marble,  clay,  gravel  and 
gypsum. 

Pure  limestone  outcrops  in  inexhaustible  amounts  in  the  Belts, 
Snowies,  Judiths  and  Moccasins.  Formerly  it  was  burnt  to  lime  in  small 
kilns  for  local  use  but  after  the  completion  of  a  railroad  into  the  Basin 
it  proved  more  convenient  and  less  expensive  to  ship  lime  in  from  more 
modern  plants.  It  seems  probable  that  a  modern  lime  plant  should  suc- 
ceed financially  in  this  region.  Crushed  limestone  makes  a  good  mixture 
for  concreate  and  some  is  crushed  for  (hat  purpose  at  Hanover.  Lime- 
stone is  not  used  for  building  stone  in  Fergus  County  and  does  not  seem 
well  suited  for  it.  A  bed  of  limestone  has  been  changed  to  marble  on 
the  slopes  of  Black  Butte  by  an  intrusion  of  IgneoUB  rock,  but  it  is  not 
believed  that  the  occnranee  is  of  economic  importance.  The  chief  use  of 
limestone  is  to  make  Portland  cement  at  Hanover. 

The   Hanover    plant    of    the    Three    Forks    Portland    Cement    Company    is 

one  of  two  plants  in  Montana  owned  by  thla  concern  and  was  finished  in 

the  spring  of    1918,      About    200    nun   an-   employed   and  the  output  of  the 

plant  is  1,000  barrel!  of  cement  a  day  The  limestone  la  quarried  near 
the  top  of  the  South  Moccasin  Mountain!  and  reduced  to  a  two  Incb  size 
in  «'i  large   electrically  operated   crusher.     The   coarsely   crushed    rock   Is 

carried  by  an  aerial   tramway    I  I, feel    lonK  to  the  <•« •  n i *■  n t   plant.      There 

It  Is  further  crushed  by  a  rotary  crusher,  mixed  with  shale,  in  proper  pro- 
portion as  shown  by  analysis,  and  ground  in  tube  mills.  The  material 
is  mixed  with   water  to  avoid   dual    and   the  slurry   thus   formed   is  conveyed 


— 44 — 

to  the  top  of  a  larse  rotary  kiln.  The  kiln  is  fired  with  powdered  coal 
and  the  slurry  is  suhject  to  a  temperature  of  3,500  degrees,  which  burns 
it  to  a  clinker.  This  is  reduced  to  a  very  fine  powder  in  tube  mills  and 
forms  Portland  cement.  A  little  gypsum  is  added  to  cement  as  a  retarder 
to  prevent  its  setting  too  rapidly.  The  Hanover  plant,  including  the 
townsite,   represents    an    investment   of    over    $1,000,000. 

Inexhaustible  deposits  of  clay  are  found  in  Fergus  County.  Clay  is 
mined  with  a  steam  shovel  at  Hanover  for  use  in  making  cement.  The  clay 
bed  is  directly  back  of  the  plant  and  overlies  the  gypsum  deposit. 

At  Lewistown,  Kootenai  shales  are  mined  for  use  for  making  brick. 
The  plant  makes  4,000,000  brick  a  year  and  makes  building  brick,  tile 
and  paving  brick  of  exceptionable  quality.  The  shale  is  crushed  and  mixed 
with  water  and  made  into  brick  and  tile  by  forcing  through  dies  and 
cutting  to  proper  size.  It  is  then  dried  for  a  week  in  a  drying  kiln 
end  burnt  to  the  finished  product  of  coal  fired  kilns.  There  are  six  kilns 
in  use.  Many  buildings  in  Lewistown  are  of  local  brick  and  the  product 
is  shipped  extensively  to  surrounding  towns  and  counties.  The  total 
value  of  brick  produced  by  the  Lewistown  plant  to  the  end  of  1918 
amounts  to  a  total  of  $172,372,  besides  $18,500  worth  of  tile.  The  plant 
represents  an  investment  of  $100,000  and  was  started  in  1911. 

Sand  for  cement  and  plaster  work  is  produced  by  two  plants  in  South 
Lewistown,  which  crush  the  sandstone  to  fine  sand.  They  annually  pro- 
duce several  hundred  yards  of  sand,  worth  $3  per  yard.  The  Lewistown 
Concrete  Supply  Company  operates  a  plant  on  Boyd  Creek,  in  Lewistown, 
where  bench  gravels  are  screened  and  washed  to  furnish  stone  and  coarse 
sand  for  cement  walks,  etc.  A  stone  crushing  plant  is  frequently  oper- 
ated to  provide  crushed  stone  for  bithulithic  pavements.  The  railroads 
have  used  many  thousand  carloads  of  the  bench  gravels  for  ballasting 
roadbeds.  The  largest  gravel  pit  is  located  a  few  miles  from  Ware;  an- 
other is  near  Brooks. 

Sandstone,  usually  that  of  Kootenai  age,  has  been  quite  widely 
quarried  for  building  purpose  in  Fergus  County,  especially  near  Lewis- 
town.  It  is  not  an  enduring  stone  and  contains  iron  that  rusts  and  in- 
jures its  appearance.  Many  handsome  buildings  are  built  from  local 
sandstone,  however,  for  example:  In  Lewistown,  the  Bright  Hotel,  Old 
High  School  and  Gym,  Library,  Presbyterian  and  M.  E.  Churches,  Power's, 
Lehman's  and  many  other  store  buildings  and  residences  are  built  of  it. 
Many  buildings  in  other  towns  of  Fergus  County,  as  well  as  ranch  homes, 
are  built  of  sandstone.  It  is  easy  to  quarry  sandstone,  as  it  outcrops  in 
bold  cliffs. 

A  little  granite  has  been  quarried  near  Geraldine,  in  Chouteau  County, 
and  a  bank  building  and  a  few  other  buildings  constructed  of  it.  How- 
ever, it  weathers  too  easily  to  make  a  satisfactory  building  stone.  The 
porphyry  of  the  Judiths  and  Moccasins  is  too  deeply  decomposed  to  make 
a  building  stone  and  is  never  used.  Field  stone  and  boulders  from  the 
bench  gravels  are  sometimes  gathered  and  used  for  porch  pillars  and 
other  decorative  purposes,  but  no  homes  are  built  of  them. 

The  high  price  of  potash  during  the  war  stimulated  search  for  deposits 
of  this  valuable  salt.  Potash  was  found  in  some  alkali  lakes  north  of 
Highwoods,  near  Montague  and  Geraldine,  and  as  incrustations  and  im- 
pregnations of  alkali  in  cut  banks  of  shale  and  on  alkali  flats.  An  average 
of  28  per  cent  potash  was  obtained  near  Pownal.     Most  places  had  only  a 


-45- 


trace  of  potash,  and  in  no  case  did  prospecting  disclose  any  deposit  that 
can  be  worked  at  a  profit.  Some  igneous  rock  in  the  Judiths  and  at 
Square  Butte  contain  8  to  12  per  cent  potash.  If  a  process  for  the  ex- 
traction of  potash  from  igneous  rock  is  ever  perfected  such  rocks  will  be 
valuable  and  can  furnish  millions  of  tons  of  potash. 

A    specimen    of    strontianite    has    been    found    on    Cottonwood    Creek, 
near    the    Snowies,    but    no    commercial    deposit    has    been    located. 


u 

O 

s 

t 


—46— 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Picturesque  Fergus  County. 

The  varied  surface  features  and  scenery  of  Fergus  County  make  it 
very  picturesque.  The  first  things  noticed  by  an  observer  are  the  mountain 
groups,  some  of  which  are  visible  from  every  part  of  the  county.  All 
Fergus  County  was  once  covered  by  the  sea,  and  as  the  land  was  uplighted 
above  the  ocean  the  rocks  were  folded  and  mashed  together  and  intruded 
by  great  masses  of  lava  resulting  in  our  mountain  uplifts.  As  the  moun- 
tains were  uplifted  very  slowly  the  agents  of  weathering  and  erosion  were 
steadily  at  work  breaking  up  and  removing  the  exposed  strata,  although 
not  as  fast  as  the  rocks  were  uplifted.  Rocks  nearly  one  mile  in  thick- 
ness have  been  thus  removed  from  above  the  present  summit  of  the 
mountains.  The  summits  and  ridges  in  the  mountains  usually  result  from 
the  greater  resistance  of  certain  layers  of  rock,  especially  limestone.  The 
frost  and  other  agents  of  weathering  have  broken  much  of  the  limestone 
into  angular  blocks  which  form  steep  talus  slopes  or  "slide  rock."  Frost 
has  sometimes  heavy  the  limestone  on  the  mountains  up  into  piles  that 
appear  like  the  effect  of  an  explosion. 

Great  masses  of  lava  intruded  along  bedding  planes  of  the  sedimentary 
rocks  and  domed  up  the  overlying  rocks.  These  intrusions  are  called 
laccoliths  and  were  the  cause  of  the  Judith  and  Moccasin  Mountains. 
The  rocks  at  the  top  of  the  dome  were  probably  fractured  by  the  folding 
they  were  subjected  to,  and  their  positions  likewise  caused  them  to  be 
first  attacked  by  the  forces  of  erosion.  As  a  result  streams  established 
themselves  well  up  on  the  slopes  of  the  uplifts,  the  original  top  of  many 
of  these  domes  has  been  removed  and  a  valley  exists  where  once  the 
mountains  were  highest.  Limekiln,  Ruby  and  Alpine  Gulches  cross  lac- 
coliths and  the  stratified  rocks  dip  away  in  all  directions  from  the  heart 
of  the  gulches.  Smaller  domes  doubtless  resulting  from  laccoliths  oc- 
cur at  Black  Butte,  Hanover  and  on  McDonald  Creek  Divide.  The  igneous 
rock  usually  intruded  the  Cambrian  shales  but  on  the  east  end  of  the 
Judiths  the  Cretaceous  formations  were  intruded.  The  dips  of  the  rocks 
in  the  Big  Snowy  Mountains  are  shorter  and  steeper  on  the  south,  while 
in  the  east  end  of  the  Little  Belts  the  strata  dips  steeper  on  the  north. 
Both  the  Big  Snowy  and  Eastern  Little  Belt  Mountains  result  from  articli 
in  the  east  end  of  the  Little  Belts  the  strata  dips  steeper  on  the 
north.  Both  the  Big  Snowy  and  Eastern  Little  Belt  Mountains 
result  from  anticlines  (upfolds  of  the  rock.)  The  country  east 
of  the  Snowies  contains  a  number  of  faults.  An  immense  anti- 
cline (geanticline)  occupies  Southeastern  Fergus  County  and  con- 
tains several  minor  domes,  synclines  and  anticlines.  The  north  flank 
of  the  geanticline  starts  near  the  Judiths  and  the  rocks  dip  northward 
very  steeply  in  places,  giving  rise  to  a  prominent  hogback  ridge  east  of 
Black  Butte.  The  south  flank  is  in  Northern  Musselshell  County.  The 
two  limbs  of  the  anticline  extend  across  the  Musselshell  and  come  to- 
gether in  Southwestern  Garfield  and  Northwestern  Rosebud  Counties. 

Wherever  rocks  are  inclined  the  removal  of  soft  rocks  etches  the 
hard  layers  into  relief  and  forms  hogback  ridges,  which  are-steep  or  gentle, 
depending  on  the  angular  dip  of  the  strata.  Such  hogbacks  and  sloping 
benches  (i.  e.,  Alaska  Bench)  nearly  surround  the  Snowy,  Judith  and 
Moccasin  Mountains.  The  slope  towards  the  mountains  is  always  steep, 
as  the  soft  rock  under  the  hard  surface  layer  is  removed  by  erosion  except 


—47— 

where  protected  by  the  hard.  Alaska  Bench  is  being  eaten  back  by  the 
removal  of  the  soft  rock  which  undermines  the  top  hard  layer  and  causes 
it  to  fall  and  slip  down  hill.  Landslides  are  fresuent  on  these  steep 
slopes  during  thaws  and  heavy  rains.  Faults  or  breaks  in  the  rocks  occur 
around  the  South  Moccasins,  at  Kelly  Hill  on  the  Gilt  Edge  road,  near 
Tyler,  near  Heath  and  Castle  Butte,  on  Alaska  Bench,  the  Little  Snowy 
Mountains  and  at  intervals  through  a  great  portion  of  Northern  Fergus 
County  from  the  Judith  River,  near  Fullerton,  east  for  50  miles.  Beds  of 
sandstone  have  been  etched  into  relief  on  the  faults  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  county  and  are  often  covered  with  scrub  pine  trees.  When  flat  lay- 
ing rocks  have  been  extensively  eroded,  hard  layers  of  rock  have  often 
protected  softer  rock  underneath  fro  merosion  and  buttes,  such  as  Dove- 
tail Butte,  Chain  Butte  and  those  along  the  lower  Judith  River  have 
resulted. 

Where  bluffs  and  ledges  of  sandstone  are  exposed  to  the  wind  they 
are  often  eroded  and  etched  into  all  sorts  of  curious  shapes  by  the  sand 
and  dust  blown  by  the  wind. 

Running  water  has  been  the  most  important  agent  of  erosion  in 
Fergus  County  and  the  mountain  streams  have  all  slowly  carved  the  great 
valleys  in  which  they  occur.  The  material  eroded  from  the  mountain 
canyons  was  in  part  carried  to  the  ocean  and  in  part  deposited  along 
the  streams  where  their  velocity  decreased.  The  streams  formerly 
flowed  at  higher  levels  and  the  gravel  covering  the  benches  of  the  Judith 
Basin  was  brought  from  the  mountains  and  left  on  the  benches  by  run- 
ning   water. 

Rivers  erode  narrow  valleys  until  they  lower  these  to  base  level,  then 
begin  to  widen  the  valleys  by  undercutting  their  banks  on  the  outside  of 
the  bends  and  depositing  sediment  in  the  still  water  on  the  inside  of  the 
bends.  The  result  is  that  a  flat  or  flood  plain  develops  along  a  stream 
If  the  base  level  is  lowered  the  stream  renews  its  down  cutting  and  the 
old  flood  plain  is  left  above  the  stream  and  is  called  a  terrace.  Four 
beautiful  terraces  exist  along  the  Judith  River  and  are  well  illustrated  at 
Deerfield.  Spring  Creek,  at  Lewlstown,  plainly  shows  three  stream  levels. 
Each  terrace  was  developed  when  the  stream  flowd  for  a  long  time  at  that 
level.  The  high  benches  in  the  Basin  that  slope  gently  from  the  moun- 
tains toward  1 1 1 « -  main  drainage  lim  s  were  developed  by  widely  meandering 
streams,    some    of    which    with    probably    not    in    the    same    locations    as    the 

present  day  streames.  Prom  the  great  extent  of  these  benches,  and  thi 
fact  that  some  of  them  extend  acrosi  the  beveled  edges  of  bard  and  son 
ro<k    strata   alike,    it    i     thoughl    certain    that    parts   of    Fergus    Count; 

were  once   reduced   nearly  tO   base   level.      At    present    nearly   all   the  streams 
are    actively    cutting    down    their    beds        A     hard     bed    of    rOCS     Sometime 
causes  a  temporary   base-   level   On   a  stream       This  happened    at    llaiio\.r.   on 

spring  Creek,  where   the     'ream    flows   through    s    narrow   rallej    cut    in 

sandstone.       From    Hanover   to    beyond    l.ewistown    the   stream    Hows    through 

a  broad  fiat   valley  that   was  developed  at   this  temporary  base  level      Be 
tween    the    high    level    benches    and    the    river    Hats,    the    "badlands"    or 
"breaks"    are    often    developed.         These   ocmr    especially    along    the    Mis- 
souri,   Musselshell.    Judith     Rivers    and    their    chief    t  ribiit  a  r  i  •  ■  s    in    Northern 
and   Eastern  Fergus  County       Badland     develop  in   soft   easily  eroded   rockl 


—48— 

such  as  shales  interbedded  with  more  resistant  sandstone  beds,  and  their 
formation  is  helped   by  steep  slopes  and  torrentials  rains. 

Dikes  occur  near  the  Highwood  Mountains  and  south  of  the  Missouri. 
They  consist  of  lava  that  entered  cracks  in  the  rocks  below  the  surface 
and  hardened  there,  and  are  now  exposed  by  erosion.  They  are  usually 
only  a  few  feet  thick  but  are  harder  than  the  rocks  around  them  and 
stand  several  feet  above  the  general  level  of  the  country  and  often  can  be 
traced  for  several  miles.  Northwest  of  Grass  Range  a  dike  of  vertical 
sandstone  a  few  feet  thick  extends  for  about  a  mile  across  flat  lying  shales. 
It  was  probably  formed  by  qnicksands  being  forced  into  a  fissure  opened 
by  an  earthquake  or  similar  disturbance  when  the  sediments  were  soft, 
and  the  quicksands  later  solidified. 

Many  caves,  sinks,  arches  and  natural  bridges  occur  in  the  limestone 
of  the  mountains  of  Fergus  County.  Water  seeped  along  joints,  cracks, 
and  bedding  planes  of  the  limestone  and  when  it  contained  carbon  dioxide 
would  dissolve  out  the  limestone,  making  a  cave.  Cavities  on  the  face  of 
a  cliff  were  often  enlarged  by  weathering  and  erosion  until  only  a  portion 
of  the  rack  was  left  to  form  an  arch,  natural  bridge  or  pinnacle.  Rock 
pinnacles  and  needles  have  also  been  formd  by  erosion  and  weathering  in 
sandstone.  Sinks  are  very  common  on  the  plateau  like  summit  of  the 
Snowy  Mountains.  Some  have  been  formed  by  the  collapse  of  the  roof 
of  a  cavern  but  more  have  resulted  from  the  constant  enlargement  of  a 
fissure  by  solution  and  erosion  by  water.  Crystal  Lake,  a  beautiful  little 
body  of  water  on  the  West  Fork  of  Rock  Creek  Canyon,  in  the  heart  of  the 
Snowies,  is  probably  in  part  formed  by  the  solution  of  the  limestone  strata 
on  which  it  rests.  Its  only  outlet  is  underground,  and  it  helps  feed  the 
large  springs  and  seeps  that  are  the  source  of  Rock  Creek.  Many  of 
the  streams  of  the  mountains  flow  underground,  except  in  time  of  flood, 
while  passing  over  the  outcrops  of  the  thick  Carboniferous  limestone. 

There  are  many  interesting  caves  in  Fergus  County.  One  on  top  of 
the  South  Moccasin  Mountains,  that  had  no  visible  entrance,  was  dis- 
covered while  blasting  for  the  crushing  plant  for  the  cement  rock  quarry. 
It  has  one  large  room  lined  with  large  crystals  of  calcite.  Several  smaller 
passages  open  off  from  this  room  and  some  contain  small  stalactites  and 
columns.  The  cave  can  be  followed  back  for  about  300  feet.  There  is  a 
deposit  of  yellow  ochre  on  the  floor  left  as  a  residue  when  the  limestone 
was  dissolved.  Scores  of  caves  are  found  in  the  Big  Snowy  Mountains. 
A  large  cave  occurs  on  Cottonwood  Canyon  and  another  on  the  narrow 
ridge  between  Cottonwood  Canyon  and  Careless  Creek  Canyon.  A  cave 
in  Horsethief  Canyon  is  said  to  have  once  been  occupied  by  counterfeiters. 
Another  cave  a  few  hundred  yards  above  the  mouth  of  Big  Dry  Canyon 
contains  a  trickle  of  water  from  the  roof  to  an  opening  in  the  floor. 
Although  the  cave  is  only  12-20  inches  high  in  this  place  deer  signs  in- 
dicate that  the  animals  visit  the  place  for  water  which  in  summer  is 
scarce  about  there,  so  they  must  crawl  back  on  their  bellies  to  obtain  it. 
There  are  no  living  springs  in  the  limestone  forming  the  top  of  the  Big 
Snowy  Mountains  in  a  dry  summer.  Herds  of  sheep  pastured  there  secure 
moisture  from  the  heavy  dews.  The  sheepherders  and  forest  servic  guards 
obtain  water  from  melting  ice  mined  in  ice  caves. 

There  are  many  caves  in  Fergus  County  in  which  ice  exists  the  entire 
year  and  continues  to  form  much  of  the  summer.  Several  such  occur  on 
top  of  the  Snowy  Mountains,  west  of  Half  Moon  Pass.      Some  of  the  most 


— 49 — 

interesting  can  be  visited  by  following  the  rangers'  trail  from  Crystal 
Lake  along  the  telephone  line  to  the  tripods  that  support  the  wire  across 
the  treeless  summit.  To  the  west,  several  hundred  yards,  ice  caves  occur 
above  the  brink  of  Rock  Creek  Canyon.  The  largest  cave  is  about  100 
feet  below  the  edge  of  the  cliffs  at  the  head  of  Porcupine  Creek  Canyon. 
The  entrance  is  of  moderate  width,  and  slopes  downward  for  50  feet, 
where  a  good-sized  room  is  entered.  The  floor  is  covered  with  ice  and 
usually  two  thick  columns  of  ice  extend  from  the  ceiling  to  the  floor. 

An  interesting  ice  cave  exists  in  the  Judith  Mountains.  It  is  best 
visited  by  stopping  a  few  hundred  feet  from  the  foot  of  the  steep  hill 
that  occurs  on  the  Gilt  Edge  stage  road  and  following  the  trail  up  the 
ravine  onto  the  ridge.  The  cave  occurs  on  the  northwest  side  of  the 
mountain  among  some  thick  scrub  pine  and  the  entrance  cannot  be  seen 
any  great  distance  away.  A  path  leads  down  over  broken  rock  into  the 
first  chamber,  that  rarely  contains  ice.  Another  short  descent  brings 
the  visitor  to  the  second  chamber.  Here  the  floor  is  covered  with  ice 
and  icicles  and  columns  of  ice  are  often  seen  in  the  spring,  early  summer 
and  fall.  The  ice,  in  part,  has  frozen  the  rocks  of  a  talus  slope  together 
and  slopes  from  the  rocks  to  the  floor.  This  ice  results  chiefly  from  the 
freezing  of  snow  water  that  seeps  down  through  the  rock.  Frost  usually 
heavily  covers  the  walls  and  roof  of  the  cave.  The  thickness  of  the  ice 
on  the  floor  of  the  cave  is  unknown  but  probably  is  several  feet  where 
deepest. 

In  the  travertine  of  the  "Park,"  on  the  south  end  of  the  North  Mocca- 
sins and  on  McDanold  Creek  Divide  there  are  a  large  number  of  long, 
narrow  fissures,  some  of  which  descend  many  feet  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  Ice  lasts  during  the  summer  in  several  of  these  fissure  caves. 
They  are  easy  to  reach  and  interesting  to  visit. 

Ice  caves  occur  in  the  Little  Belt  Mountains,  near  the  Twin  Sisters. 

The  ice  in  the  caves  originates  in  different  ways.  A  considerable  part 
seeps  in  on  the  floor  from  melting  snow  and  early  spring  rains  and 
freezes  there.  A  little  snow  is  blown  in  and  is  consolidated  to  ice  but 
the  ice  would  not  last  all  summer  from  this  source.  There  arc  many 
crevices  and  cracks  in  the  limestone  leading  off  from  the  caves.  During 
the  winter  cold  air.  often  chilled  many  degrees  below  zero,  would  enter 
(he  fractured   rock   ami   cool   it    considerably   below    freezing.      Frost  freeh 

condenses   on   BUCh    rock    surfaces    ami    b times    is    nearly    an    inch    thick. 

Any  air  that  emerges  from  the  crevices  of  the  rock  is  chilled  below  tin 
freezing  point  and  freezes  the  water  thai  drips  and  seeps  into  the  cave 
The  ice  remains  drj  and  continues  to  form  during  the  spring  ami  eari> 
summer  and  fail.     During  the  winter  there  is  no  water  entelng  the  cave  to 

freeZe.      During  the   last    ol    the   summer   the   Ice   may   slowly   melt,   InM    th. 
is   too    much    to   entirely    disappear   during    the    few    weeks   after    the    suppl] 
of    "cold."    stored    in    the    rock    .    Is    exhausted        AJ    B    result,    the    ice    |a 
the   entire    year.       An    ice    cave    is    an    inters   ting    place    to    visit,    and    is    • 
specially   plea   ant    for   picnic   parlies   in    the   summer. 

There  are  several  large  springs  In  'he  county  'lie'  Big  Spring,  (hre 
miles  above  Lewistown,  is  be  I  known,  it  sufflci     tor  the  municipal  watei 

pupply   and    furnishes    most    of   the    water    m    Big    Spring    Creek.      The    watei 

flows  underground  througb   porous  sandstone  from   the  Snowy   .Mountains 

to   the   spring.      The   Warm    Spring    between    the    North    and    South    Moccasin 

Mountains  furnishes  all  the  flow  of  Warm  Spring  Creek  which  Is  enough 


—50— 

to  run  a  small  power  plant  and  irrigate  a  large  acreage.  Vast  hot 
springs  formerly  existed  around  the  Judith  and  Moccasin  Mountains, 
that  deposited  thick  beds  of  travertine  covering  many  square  miles  of 
land. 

There  are  only  a  few  lakes  in  Fergus  County,  Crystal  Lake,  in  the  Big 
Snowies,  is  most  picturesque.  It  is  a  shallow  body  of  water,  half  a  mile 
long,  but  is  surrounded  by  high  forest  covered  mountains  and  is  a  beau- 
tiful camping  site.  War  Horse,  Wild  Horse  and  Bear  Lakes  are  north 
of  Grass  Range.  The  lakes  occur  in  a  treeless  country  and  their  basins 
were  probably  formed  in  part  by  deflation  by  the  wind.  Around  the 
steep  face  of  Alaska  Bench  are  several  landslide  lakes  where  water  col- 
lects in  depressions  above  a  landslide  block.  Such  landslide  lakes 
can  be  seen  at  the  base  of  other  hogback  ridges  and  benches  that  sur- 
round the  mountain  groups.  Beaver  frequently  dam  up  the  clear  streams 
and  while  good  farm  land  is  sometimes  injured,  the  animals  add  greatly 
in  making  the  streams  more  picturesque. 

The  mountain  and  foothill  streams  are  usually  well  filled  with  trout 
and  often  cascade  swiftly  on  their  course  between  banks  shielded  to 
the  water's  edge  with  thickets  and  trees.  Cottonwood,  Rock  Creek,  East 
Fork,  Swimming  Woman,  North  Fork  of  Flatwillow  are  beautiful  streams 
to  follow  up  the  deep  wide  canyons  they  have  carved  in  the  Snowy  Moun- 
tains. Towards  their  head  the  steepness  of  the  slopes  increase  and  cas- 
cades and  waterfalls  are  higher.  In  most  of  the  canyons  hard  layers 
of  rock  in  the  bed  of  the  stream  cause  waterfalls  in  some  places  10  to  20 
feet  high.  The  hard  rock  layers  often  have  a  gentle  dip  and  result  in  the 
floor  of  the  valley  resembling  a  series  of  gigantic  steps.  The  canyons  in 
the  mountains  are  being  cut  headwards  and  often  have  resulted  in  cut- 
ting down  the  main  range  of  the  mountains  to  a  knife  edge  ridge,  as 
between  Careless  and  Cottonwood  Canyons,  in  the  Big  Snowies.  This 
forms  the  prominent  notch  in  the  mountains  visible  from  the  Basin  and 
is  often  mistaken  for  Half  Moon  Pass.  Half  Moon  Pass  was  originally 
the  summit  of  the  Big  Snowies  and  has  been  formed  by  the  headway 
erosion  of  the  North  Fork  of  Flatwillow  and  Swimming  Woman   Creeks. 

The  steep  square  cut  limestone  cliffs,  the  tumbling  torrents  of  water, 
the  wonderful  views  across  Montana  from  Canada  and  Yellowstone  Park 
that  one  can  enjoy  from  the  summits  of  the  mountains,  the  clear  sky,  the 
swaying  pines  and  the  fleeting  birds  and  timid  deer,  make  a  camping 
trip  in  the  mountains  something  distinctly  worth  while  and  decidedly 
picturesque. 


—51 — 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Climate   and   Ground   Water. 

Government  precipitation  records  prove  that  the  rainfall  of  the  Judith 
Basin  is  16%  to  20  inches  annually,  about  one-fourth  more  than  the 
country  north,  east,  south  and  west.  The  greater  rainfall  makes  failure  of 
crops  from  lack  of  rains  nearly  unknown,  and  one  summer  fallow  in  three  or 
four  years  appears  to  be  sufficient  to  insure  good  crops.  The  precipitation 
in  the  foothills  and  mountains  is  more  than  in  the  Basin.  In  Northern 
and  Eastern  Fergus  the  rainfall  is  not  as  great  as  near  Lewistown,  and 
summer  fallowing  once  in  two  or  three  years  is  necessary  to  insure  a 
good  yield  of  grain.  Experience  has  abundantly  proved  the  value  of  the 
clean  summer  fallow  in  conserving  moisture  for  the  following  season, 
except  on  very  porous  gravel  underlain  at  two  or  three  feet  depth  by  a 
hardpan  of  gravel  cement. 

Weather  records  have  been  kept  at  Utica  since  1893  and  at  Lewis- 
town  since  1895.  These  show  that  at  Lewistown  9.12  inches  of  rainfall 
in  the  three  growing  months  of  May,  June  and  July,  or  45  per  cent  of 
the  moisture  falls  in  25  per  cent  of  the  time.  At  Utica,  8.31  inches  or 
50  per  cent  of  the  total  fell  on  the  average  in  the  same  months.  This 
very  favorable  distribution  of  rainfall  is  of  great  help  to  agriculture.  The 
May  and  June  rains  are  of  most  importance  for  the  winter  wheat  and 
the  June  and  July  rains  for  the  spring  grain.  Six  Junes  at  Utica  and 
six  at  Lewistown  had  less  than  two  inches  of  rain  instead  of  the  average 
of  3.5  inches.  Dry  Junes  either  at  Utica  or  Lewistown  occurred  in  seven 
years  out  of  twenty-five  and  came  in  pairs  in  1899-1900,  1903-1904,  1917- 
1918.  There  have  never  been  three  dry  Junes  in  succession.  Less  than 
one  inch  of  rain  fell  in  June  at  Lewistown  in  1912,  but  May  and  July 
had  above  the  average  rainfall  so  crops  suffered  little.  The  same  was 
true  of  much  of  the  Basin  in  1918.  In  only  May,  1897,  did  the  May 
rains  fail  in  Lewistown  and  that  was  followed  by  a  rainy  June  and 
July.  May  is  not  as  rainy  at  Utica  and  the  May  rains  were  less  than  two 
inches  in  10  years  and  leBB  than  1.6  inches  in  four  years.  July  rains 
were  less  than  one  inch  at  Utica  in  seven  years  out  of  25.  At  Lewistown 
three  out  of  23  years  bad  a  light  July  rainfall.  In  only  1900  and  1917 
was  the  rainfall  at  these  stations  deficient  (luring  both  June  and  July. 
Little  grain  was  planted  in  L900  bill  in  1  !» 1  7  crops  suffered  generally.  In 
1918  partial  failure  resulted  from  lack  of  rains  in  June  and  July  in 
Northern  Fergus  County.  The  occasional  dry  years  merely  prove  that 
on  the  average  no  section  of  Montana  is  favored  climatically  so  well  as 
Fergus   County. 

The  winter!  In  Lewistown  are  dry,  less  than  an  inch  of  rainfall  occurs 
in  each  of  the   months  of  November,   December,  January.   February    and 

March.  The  winters  are  generally  mild,  hem:  tempered  DJ  the  ChlnOOK 
winds,  as  in   14-16  and    L917  Li       February,   L916,  was  the  coldest   month 

on    record,    as    for    LT.    days    in    the    mouth    the    thermometer!    did     not     rise 

above  zero,  with  i  i  degrees  K.iin eido-it .  the  lowest  temperature.  The 
coldest  recorded  temperature  In  Lewistown  is  i-  degrees  Fahrenheit,  but 
other  parts  of  the  country  have  reported  occasional  unofficial  record:    \><- 

low    this.       The    hotie   i     month      are     Inly    and     Aug.u    I  \    temperature    of 

99  degree  Fahrenheit  was  recorded  in  July.  1914,  whicb  was  the  hottest, 

dryest  month  since  L908.  Spring  wheat  WU  damaged  one  half  by  this 
hot    wave,    but    the    winter    wheat     was    exceptionally     good.      The    autumn 


—52— 

weather  is  usually  open  with  favorable  weather  condiitons  for  seeding 
and  plowing.  September  has  more  rain  than  either  August  or  October. 
1896  is  the  dryest  year  on  record  at  Utica.  Two  months  were  without  rain 
and  the  total  precipitation  was  less  than  10  inches.  The  dryest  year  on 
record  in  Lewistown  was  1904,  when  13  ^  inches  of  rain  fell.  The  wettest 
year  was  1909  when  nearly  2  5  inches  of  rainfall  occurred  at  Lewistown, 
and  over  24  inches  at  Utica.  1915  had  perhaps  the  most  generally  fa- 
vorable of  conditions  in  recent  years.  June  1909  had  the  most  rainfall, 
in  any  one  month  in  Fergus  County,  when  it  amounted  to  6.66  inches. 

Hailstorms  sometimes  damage  crops  considerably  in  Fergus  County. 
Hail  is  usually  very  local,  and  such  storms  were  most  frequent  in  1912, 
1915  and  1918.  Hail  most  frequently  occurs  in  the  foothills,  but  prob- 
ably no  section  of  the  county  is  entirely  free  from  dangers  of  hail,  although 
usually  severe  hail  is  a  rare  occurrence. 

The  growing  seasons  for  crops  is  not  as  long  as  in  more  southern 
states,  but  due  to  the  more  northerly  locations  the  sun  shines  for  more 
hours  a  day  and  crops  mature  more  rapidly. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  the  climate  of  Fergus  County  has  changed 
since  records  have  been  kept.  Different  years,  however,  may  vary  con- 
siderably from  the  average.  There  seem  to  be  a  series  of  years  that  have 
above  the  average  rainfall  followed  by  a  series  that  have  less  than  the 
average.  These  series  of  wet  and  dry  years  probably  occur  in  rather 
definite  cycles,  but  records  have  been  kept  for  too  short  a  time  in  Montana 
for  the  author  to  attempt  to  make  any  generalizations  regarding  this  matter. 
After  a  study  of  local  records  up  to  the  end  of  1918,  the  writer  believes 
that  at  least  two  of  the  next  three  years  will  be  very  favorable  for  grain 
crops,  and  that  at  least  one  and  possibly  two  of  the  winters  during  the 
same  time  will  be  severe. 

Only  a  small  part  of  rainfall  enters  the  soil,  probably  more  of  snow 
water  enters  the  ground  than  of  rain.  Part  of  the  rainfall  runs  off,  part 
evaporates  and  a  small  part  disappears  by  percolations.  Since  the  chief 
cause  of  variations  in  yields  of  crops  is  variations  in  rainfall,  the  farmer 
should  seek  to  conserve  it  and  plant  drought  resistant  crops  as  hard 
winter  wheats.  The  time  rain  falls  is  very  favorable  to  crops  in  Fergus 
County.  Torrential  rains  and  hailstorms  may  be  very  destructive  to 
crops,  but  fortunately  our  rains  are  usually  gentle. 

The  precipitation  records  secured  at  Lewistown,  Moccasin  Experiment 
Station  and  Utica  are  as  follows.  Records  were  not  kept  at  Lewistown 
in  1917  and  in  two  other  months,  so  the  records  at  Moccasin  have  been 
used   for  those   periods. 


-53— 


LEWISTOWN- 


c 

.a 

C 

u 

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o 

>> 

to 

> 

cj 

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i-a 

3 

ft 
< 

s 
1-1 

3 

3 

w 

o 
O 

o 

P 

0 

1896 

1.65 

1.50 

1.60 

3.90 

2.63 

2.33 

2.06 

0.39 

2.S6 

0.38 

2.43  1 

T       21.73 

1897 

0.92 

1.84 

1.15 

1.10 

0.84 

3.54 

3.38 

2.55 

3.97 

1.10 

.... 

1898 

0.55 

0.80 

3.16 

1.15 

4.41 

5.11 

.  .  • 

>  •  •  •■ 

..... 

1899 

0.40 

1.80 

1.58 

•  *■ 

..... 





1900 

... 

1.50 

0.55 

4.20 

O.SO 

1.00 

0.32 

0.90. 



1901 

T 

0.02 

1.10 

1.10 

4.45 

3.50 

2.00 

0.02 

1.20 

0.50 

0.05 

2.25 

16.19 

1902 

0.55 

1.30 

.45 

2.00 

4.00 

6.00 

3.60 

0.70 

0.40 

T 

0.65 

1.30 

20.95 

1903 

0.47 

1.30 

0.55 

2.90 

4.70 

1.75 

5.60 

0.75 

o  40 

0.25 

0.70 

0.70 

22.09 

1904 

0.92 

1.15 

1.90 

1.65 

2.10 

0.50 

3.45 

0.60 

0.20 

T 

0.05 

1.00  1  13.52 

19ii5 

0.40 

1.00 

0.55 

1.10 

2.15 

4.50 

1.20 

0.80 

1.20 

0.75 

0.70 

0.00 

14.35 

1906 

0.50 

0.60 

0.80 

0.10 

3.78 

5. 47 

2.00 

0.60 

2.10 

0.95 

0.89 

1.31 

19.10 

1907 

1.88 

0.47 

0.92 

0.45 

2.25 

3.90 

2.14 

3.24 

0.75 

0.26 

T 

0.25 

16.51 

1908 

0.49 

1.55 

2.10 

0.34 

4.09 

4.00 

0.04 

1.04 

2.00 

5.80 

0.25 

0.40 

22.10 

1909 

1.25 

0.10 

1.27 

1.19 

2.50 

1.86 

4.20 

2.73 

4.24 

0.49 

0.91 

1.21 

24.94 

1910 

1.40 

0.91 

0.25 

1.73 

2.26 

U.l> 

2.20 

0.81 

3.03 

1.05 

0.98 

0.50 

17.40 

1911 

1.54 

0.46 

0.67 

1.64 

5.  is 

3.12 

1.75 

4.15 

1.81 

1.96 

1.32 

0.57 

24.17 

1912 

1.18 

0.05 

0.56 

2.23 

4.27 

IP.SU 

4.12 

1.16 

1.93 

2.03 

0.04 

0.41 

18.78 

1913 

1.31 

0.31 

0.27 

0.69 

2.26 

6.33 

1.66 

1.12 

1.88 

1.82 

0.69 

0.36 

IS.  70 

1914 

0.32 

0.04 

1.26 

0.17 

3.20 

5.57 

.53 

1.19 

1.92 

1.33 

0.47 

0.22 

16.22 

1915 

1    0.65 

0.02 

1.61 

1.31 

3.70 

5.47 

3.93 

1.7s 

1.66 

1.11 

0.85 

0.80 

22.89 

1916 

1    0.80 

0.51 

0.91 

1.80 

2.4:5 

4.15 

2.39 

0.70 

1.76 

1.34 

0.78 

1.47 

19.04 

1917 

1.87 

1.30 

0.85 

1.18 

2.79 

1.81 

0.96 

0.75 

2.91 

0.62 

0.09 

2.56 

17.69 

1918 

2.34 

0.87 

0.38 

0.18 

3.32 

1.68 

2.  ms 

3.14 

1.28 

1.76 

0.52 

0.16 

17.71 

T.   Mean 

[    0.99 

0.75 

1.13 

1.34 

3.21 

3.55 

2.37 

1.49 

1.86 

1.28 

0.81 

0.83  |  19.58 

UTICA— 


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£ 

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> 

0 

0 

01 

0 

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fc 

2 

< 

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0 

z 

p 

b 

1894 

1.6S 

4.46 

0.30 

0.86 

1.32 

1.34 

0.48 

0.44 

1895 

0.20 

0.15 

0.75 

0.39 

3.76 

1.31 

0.00 

0.45 

0.00 

0.80 

0.52 

.... 

1896 

0.80 

0.30 

1.02 

0.20 

3.06 

2.35 

3.42 

1.93 

2.38 

0.66 

4.67 

0.00 

20.68 

1-07 

0.30 

0.46 

o.Tl 

O.S7 

1.33 

3.98 

1.74 

0.30 

0.15 

2.36 

1.68 

0.80 

14.68 

Wis 

0.70 

1.91 

1.12 

5.87 

5.  SO 

3.16 

0.67 

0.47 

1.25 

1.14 

0.43 

22.79 

1899 

1.69 

0.38 

0.92 

2.29 

3.33 

1.22 

..57 

1.31 

0.28 

1.15 

0.11 

0.88 

16.13 

1900 

0.45 

0.35 

0.21 

2.86 

1.04 

0.44 

0.70 

2.20 

0.S2 

0.86 

0.29 

0.21 

10.42 

1901 

0.40 

0.20 

0.57 

1.65 

3.82 

3.97 

1.97 

0.90 

2.42 

1.39 

T 

3.22 

20.51 

1902 

0.14 

0.45 

1.12 

1.11 

3.28 

1.84 

oj',7 

0.32 

0.1s 

2.04 

0.25 

11.94 

1903 

0.50 

0.24 

1.11 

2.29 

l.S'J 

2.81 

2.57 

0.81 

2.42 

0.05 

0.44 

0.65 

15.71 

1904 

0.18 

0.22 

o.T'.' 

1.11 

1 .94 

1.73 

3.26 

0.42 

0.12 

0.54 

0.50 

0.24 

11.07 

1906 

0.19 

0.16 

0.75 

L97 

2.SJ 

0.27 

0.83 

0.39 

0.50 

T 

11.69 

1906 

0.55 

0.68 

0.43 

0.16 

2.61 

2.66 

0.93 

2.00 

0.00 

0.70 

0.42 

0.68 

12.76 

1907 

1.34 

0.08 

0.61 

0.43 

8.21 

6.75 

3.51 

1.47 

0.73 

0.20 

T 

T 

1S.33 

1906 

0.55 

0.49 

0.61 

7.31 

2.  15 

0.20 

lis 

1.11 

6.27 

T 

0.22 

21.07 

1909 

0.90 

0.08 

1.22 

O.05 

LSI 

4.97 

1.28 

1.27 

0.49 

0.80 

L20 

24.16 

1910 

l  20 

1.18 

0.00 

1.32 

8. 16 

i  99 

1.2:: 

0.67 

2.17 

1.43 

0.73 

0.31 

15.99 

1911 

0.62 

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0.92 

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6.17 

1.12 

1.02 

1.10 

-I  60 

1912 

1.16 

1.27 

3.94 

2.16 

1.27 

1.67 

L64 

-1   .-v 

0.15 

0.28 

16.69 

1913 

i .  16 

0.86 

2.00 

2.7s 

1  64 

2.14 

0.5:1 

1.18 

2.50 

1.60 

0  26 

19  01 

Kilt 

0  81 

o.:'.r, 

o.:m; 

0.90 

0.20 

0.23 

14.51 

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T 

1.27 

I  67 

5.21 

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1916 

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1  ::i 

1.07 

1.08 

0.37 

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17.02 

1917 

0.86 

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0.81 

0.17 

2.21 

0.78 

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13.27 

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2.86 

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1.66 

1.87 

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1914 

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T.    lit 

1.11 

— 54 — 

Ground  Water. 

The  depth  at  which  ground  water  occurs  depends  on  the  amount  of 
rainfall,  rate  of  evaporation,  character  of  surface,  character  of  soil,  sub- 
soil, and  bedrock.  There  are  some  parts  of  Fergus  County  where  it  is 
difficult  to  obtain  sufficient  amounts  of  pure,  potable  water.  This  is 
especially  true  where  the  thick  black  Colorado  and  Bearpaw  shales  outcrop. 
The  shale  is  too  dense  for  water  to  sink  through,  with  the  result  that  no 

water  can  be  obtained  except  when  beds  of  sandstone  are  struck  and  even 
then  the  water  is  frequently  alkaline  and  unfit  to  use. 

The  bench  gravels  of  the  Judith  Basin  are  underlain  by  clay  or  shale 
through  which  water  will  not  sink  and  hence  pure  water  can  usually  be 
obtained  by  digging  shallow  wells.  The  Kootenai,  Jurassic  and  upper  Car- 
boniferous sandstones  are  usually  thoroughly  water  soaked  and  wherever 
these  can  be  reached  with  the  drill  a  large  water  supply  can  be  tapped  whose 
quality  is  usually  good.  Springs  are  very  common  where  these  sandstones 
outcrop.  The  Big  Springs,  six  miles  from  Lewistown,  which  supply  the 
city  with  water,  gush  from  the  Jurassic  sandstone  in  a  downfold  of  the 
rocks,  or  syncline,  that  extends  from  the  Snowy  Mountains  to  the  springs. 
Warm  Spring,  between  the  North  and  South  Moccasin  Mountains,  also 
emerges  from  Jurassic  sandstone.  Many  of  the  springs  from  the  Kootenai 
sand  contains  small  amounts  of  iron  which  causes  the  water  to  have  an 
iredescence  resembling  an  oil  seep. 

Many  streams  of  good  water  wend  their  way  across  the  plains  from 
all  of  the  mountain  groups.  Within  the  mountains  the  streams  usually 
flow  underground  in  the  canyons  where  they  cross  the  outcrop  of  the  mas- 
sive Madison  limestone  except  in  times  of  flood.  The  water  reappears  in 
the  beds  of  the  streams  some  distance  from  the  mountains.  During  the 
dry  season  many  small  streams  in  the  county  cease  to  flow  and  often  water 
only  occurs  in  pools  along  their  course.  This  may  sometimes  be  alkaline 
or  polluted  by  stock  and  yet  be  the  chief  source  of  water  supply  for  several 
miles.  North  of  Hilger  and  Roy  and  east  of  Grass  Range  and  Roy  water 
is  often  quite  difficult  to  obtain,  and  when  struck  may  contain  too  much 
gypsum  and  alkali  for  use  except  for  stock.  To  obtain  water  for  stock  it 
may  be  necessary  to  dam  up  a  coulee  to  retain  snow  and  rain  water.  The 
pond  can  usually  be  made  water  tight  by  the  tramping  of  the  mud  bottom 
by  the  stock  but  the  pond  will  not  hold  water  if  the  dain  is  built  on  very 
porous  soil  or  rock.  In  case  the  soil  is  porous  the  sod  above  the  dam  should 
be  left  as  it  makes  the  pond  tighter.  If  a  well  is  dug  below  the  pond,  better 
water  for  household  use  can  be  secured,  as  impurities  in  the  water  will  be 
filtered  out  by  the  soil  as  the  water  sinks  down  to  the  well.  Ice  is  some- 
times gathered  and  supplies  soft  drinking  water  in  the  summer  when  it 
melts,  as  the  alkali  in  the  water  is  excluded  when  the  ice  forms. 

No  simple  laboratory  test  can  determine  whether  water  is  safe  to  use 
for  domestic  purposes  as  the  water  may  affect  individuals  differently. 
The  same  is  true  regarding  irrigation  water.  Water  heavily  impregnated 
with  alkali  can  be  used  safely  on  porous  soil,  while  if  the  same  water  is 
applied  to  a  heavy  clay  or  gumbo  soil  the  water  cannot  drain  away  and 
the  soil  will  quickly  become  so  impregnated  with  alkali  that  crops  will  not 
grow.  Heavy  clay  soils  often  contain  an  excess  of  alkali  at  a  shallow  depth 
and  if  flooded  carelessly  with  even  fresh  water  the  water  will  dissolve  the 
alkali  in  the  ground   and  when   it   rises  by  capillarity  to  the  surface  and 


— 55 — 

evaporates  the  alkali  will  be  left  and  the  soil  may  be  severely  damaged. 
Proper  drainage  will  remedy  this  condition. 

Considerable  land  is  irrigated  in  Fergus  County  chiefly  for  hay  crops, 
as  alfalfa.  In  1907,  there  were  22,700  acres  irrigated  in  the  Judith  River 
section,  8,800  acres  getting  water  directly  from  the  Judith,  4,650  acres 
from  Warm  Spring  Creek  and  2,900  from  Big  Spring  Creek.  Flood  waters 
could  be  stored  on  many  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Judith  in  the  foothills. 
There  are  good  power  sites  available  on  the  Judith  River  below  its  junc- 
tion with  Big  Spring  Creek.  In  Eastern  Fergus  County  there  are  consid- 
erable areas  along  Flatwillow  and  Box  Elder  Creeks  that  are  irrigated. 
A  large  territory  north  of  Winnett  will  be  irrigated  from  the  recently  com- 
pleted ditch  of  the  Winnett  Irrigation  Co.  This  gets  its  water  by  storing 
flood  waters.  The  Flatwillow  project,  south  of  Winnett,  will  irrigate 
25,000  acres  of  land  ultimately.  It  will  utilize  the  flood  flow  of  Flat- 
willow Creek,  the  direct  flow  being  used  already  on  alfalfa  land. 

Grain  growing  in  Fergus  County  is  greatly  helped  by  the  usually  favor- 
able distribution  of  rain  during  the  growing  season.  In  order  to  insure 
the  best  results,  especially  in  the  occasional  dry  years,  it  is  necessary  to 
practice  proper  methods  of  cultivation  and  croping.  When  properly  car- 
ried on  these  will  conserve  the  fertility  of  the  soil  as  well  as  its  water 
content,  and  it  is  well  known  that  more  fertile  the  soil  the  less  the  amount 
of   water   required    by   growing    crops. 

Artesian  water  can  be  obtained  in  many  parts  of  the  country  by  drilling 
wells  down  to  water-soaked  sandstone.  A  vein  of  water  is  simply  a  porous 
rock  filled  with  water.  If  the  source  of  the  water  is  at  a  higher  level  than 
the  mouth  of  the  well  the  water  will  flow  over  the  top  of  the  well.  The 
most  favorable  places  to  drill  artesian  wells  are  in  synclines  (down  folds 
of  the  rocks)  and  in  places  where  the  rocks  dip  way  from  the  mountains. 
A  good  flowing  well  of  soft  water  has  been  drilled  in  the  brickyard  at 
Lewistown  where  there  is  a  small  structural  basin.  A  strong  flow  of 
water  was  struck  a  mile  north  of  Piper  in  a  well  drilled  for  oil.  There 
is  a  good  artesian  well  at  Fullerton,  on  the  Judith  River,  and  several 
others  in  other  parts  of  the  county.  Deep  drilling  is  expensive,  but  if 
the  Kootenai  and  Jurassic  sandstones  can  be  reached  pure  soft  water  will 
be  found.  The  Kootenai  sandstone  is  probably  less  than  2,000  feet  below 
the  surface  at  Winnett  and  an  abundant  supply  of  soft  water  can  be  ob- 
tained by  drilling  deep  enough  to  reach  it.  The  water  in  the  thin  sand- 
stones at  the  base  of  the  Colorado  shale  is  often  rather  alkaline. 


—56— 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Soil  of  Fergus  County  and  Its  Influence  on  Agriculture. 

Soils  result  from  the  disintegration  and  decomposition  of  rocks  modified 
by  organic  remains.  Soils  may  be  residual  or  transported.  If  they  are 
residual  their  character  is  determined  by  that  of  the  bedrock.  If  they 
have  been  transported  their  source  has  been  from  many  diverse  kinds  of 
rocks  and  they  are  more  apt  to  contain  all  kinds  of  plant  food  in  an  avail- 
able  form. 

All  good  soils  should  contain  nitrogen,  potash  and  phosporus  in  a 
soluable  form  and  should  be  in  a  good  physical  condition  for  the  success- 
ful growing  of  crops.  Those  interested  in  a  complete  discussion  on  soils 
are  referred  to  any  textbook  on  the  subject,  as  in  this  chapter  we  shall 
consider  only  the  chief  types  of  soils  in  Fergus  County  and  their  influence 
on  agriculture. 

Residual  soils  found  here  include  those  formed  from  sandstone,  shale, 
limestone,  porphyry  and  other  igneous  rocks,  and  mixtures  of  them.  Their 
character  thus  depends  on  that  of  the  bedrock 

There  are  no  great  areas  of  sandy  soil  in  Fergus  County.  The  sand- 
stone beds  are  usually  relatively  thin  and  the  sandy  soils  are  usually  mixed 
with  clay.  Sandy  soils  absorb  rain  water  easily  but  lose  it  rather  quickly 
by  evaporation  and  are  quite  susceptible  to  damage  from  blowing  by  the 
wind.  Sandy  soils  permit  ground  water  to  leach  out  much  of  the  soluble 
salts  valuable  for  plant  food. 

Therefore  sandy  soils  are  never  alkaline  and  are  usually  less  fertile 
than  less  porous  soils.  However,  they  are  easy  to  work  and  can  be  plowed 
earlier  in  the  spring  than  heavy  soils.  A  certain  amount  of  sand  is  de- 
sirable in  the  soil  as  it  helps  to  put  it  in  a  good  physical  condition,  so  that 
plants  can  utilize  whatever  fertilizing  elements  are  present. 

Soils  formed  from  the  decay  of  limestone  may  lack  certain  elements, 
especially  nitrogen,  but  if  the  limestone  is  impure  the  soils  are  among  the 
richest  and  best  that  occur.  The  Jurassic  and  Quadrant  formations  con- 
tain shaly  limestone  that  makes  good  soil  on  which  fine  grass  and  hay 
grows,  as  on  Alaska  Bench.  The  travertine  on  McDonald  Creek  Divide  and 
the  "Park"  plateau,  south  of  the  North  Moccasins,  makes  a  very  fertile 
soil,  but  one  which  is  sometimes  thin  and  stony.  The  early  Carbonifer- 
ous rocks  contain  much  limestone,  but  outcrop  too  far  up  in  the  mountains 
for  crops  to  be  grown,  but  often  support  a  splendid  growth  of  grass  valu- 
able for  pasture,  as  around  Half  Moon  Pass,  in  the  Snowies.  Where  the 
Madison  limestone  dips  steeply  the  broken  rock  is  washed  or  blown  off 
and  the  soil  is  thin  or  absent,  but  if  the  dips  of  the  rock  are  gentle,  a  very 
rich  soil  has  resulted.  Due  to  the  high  altitude  this  limy  soil  is  mainly 
devoted  to  grazing  land  and  timothy  hay.  The  soil  is  black  from  its 
high  humus  content  and  with  the  abundant  rains  in  the  foothills,  makes 
about  the  best  natural  hay  and  pasture  land  in  the  county.  Narrow  bottom 
lands  near  the  mountains  on  the  creeks  flowing  from  the  Belts  and  Snowies 
make  unexcelled  soil  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are  largely  formed  by  the 
erosion  of  the  decayed  portion  of  the  mountain  limestone.  Lime  prevents 
an  acid  condition  of  the  soil.  Limestone  usually  contains  potash  and 
phosphorus  which  is  liberated  for  plant  use  by  its  decay.  The  bench 
gravels  of  the  Judith  Basin  contain  a  very  large  proportion  of  limestone 
transported  there  from  the  mountains  by  running  water.  No  finer  grain 
lands  exist  in  the  world  than  these  limy  gravels.      Their  only  defect  is  that 


— 57 — 

their  nitrogen  content  is  consumed  by  straight  grain   growing.      Rotation 
of  crops,  and  the  keeping  of  stock  will  help  maintain  their  fertility. 

The  soil  formed  from  shale  is  a  heavy  clay,  very  sticky  when  wet. 
It  holds  water  well  but  does  not  allow  it  to  soak  in  rapidly.  The  black 
Colorado,  Bearpaw  and  Claggett  shales  often  form  extensive  gumbo  flats. 
They  are  covered  with  sagebrush  rather  than  grass.  Usually  in  Fergus 
County  the  presence  of  sagebrush  instead  of  grass  indicates  an  inferior 
soil.  Gumbo  soil  is  impossible  to  work  when  thoroughly  wet  and  does 
not  dry  out  as  soon  as  sand  or  loam,  so  cannot  be  worked  as  earily  in 
the  spring.  Heavy  clay  and  gumbo  contain  abundant  mineral  salts,  since 
ground  water  cannot  readily  leach  them  out,  but  they  often  lack  humus 
and  therefore  are  not  in  the  best  physical  condition.  Plowing  under  straw 
and  green  manure  crops  might  help  put  them  in  better  physical  condition. 
There  is  often  an  excess  of  alkali  in  gumbo  soil  as  the  ground  water  dis- 
solves the  alkali  and  brings  it  to  the  surface  by  capillarity,  where  it  is  left 
when  the  water  evaporates.  The  white  crusts  of  alkali  are  chiefly  com- 
mon salt  and  glauber  salt  (sodium  sulphate).  Sodium  carbonate  reacts 
with  the  humus  and  forms  black  alkali  which  is  the  most  harmful  form  as 
a  small  quantity  will  kill  growing  plants,  and  it  also  puddles  the  soil. 
Gypsum  added  to  soil  containing  black  alkali  changes  it  to  the  relatively 
harmless  sulphate.  If  heavy  soils,  especially  with  tight  subsoils,  are  irri- 
gated great  damage  is  sometimes  done  as  the  water  dissolves  alkali  from 
the  ground  and  concentrates  it  at  the  surface  where  it  kills  the  plants. 
Thorough  drainage  and  less  frequent  irrigation  benefit  such  soils.  Surface 
mulching  and  the  planting  of  alkali  resistant  crops  are  also  beneficial. 
As  before  mentioned,  gumbo  soils  contain  plenty  of  planty  food,  but  are 
sometimes  in  such  poor  physical  condition  that  plants  cannot  grow  well. 
Excellent  crops  of  grain  are  frequently  raised  on  gumbo  soil  but  crop 
production  is  not  considered  so  certain  as  on  the  bench  gravel  and  loam 
soil.     Alfalfa  and  other  hay  crops  often  do  well  on  heavy  clay  soils. 

True  loam  covers  considerable  areas  in  Fergus  County.  It  generally 
results  when  the  bedrock  is  Impure  shale  and  shale  interbedded  with  thin 
sandstone  and  limestone  strata.  These  conditions  are  true  of  much  of 
the  Jurassic,  Quadrant,  Kootenai,  Eagle  and  Judith  River  formations  and 
hence  good  loam  soils  usually  are  formed  where  they  outcrop.  Both  fine 
and  coarse  materials  unite  to  form  Loan  which  gives  it  the  advantages 
possessed  by  both  heavy  clay  and  sandy  soils  without  the  disadvantages 
of   either.      Loam    usual;    contains    more    humus    than    most    other    soils. 

River  deposited  sills  make  up  the  soils  of  the  Hal  bottom  lands  along 
the  chief  streams  in  the  county.  All  kinds  of  crops  are  grown  on  them, 
especially  alfalfa  and  timothy. 

Igneous   rocks   contain    m\.i.iI    minerals   and    their   decay    usually    m; 
good   soil.      However,    in    Fergus    County    nearly    all    the    the    Igneous    rocks 
occur   in   the   mountains,   and    no  extensive   soil   areas   that   can   be   used    for 
(arming  have  resulted   where  such   rocks  outcrop 

Glaciers  have  not  appreciably  affected  the  soils  in  any  pari  of  Fergus 

County.       Thousands  of  years   ;  lacier  come    Horn    Canada    and    crossed 

the  Missouri  in  Northeastern   Fergus  County      Only  a   i.w   hard   rounded 

boulders   of    rock,    entirely    different    from    an]     bedrock    in    .Montana,    remain 

scattered   sparingly  over  the  surfa<e  as  evidence  of  the   presence  of  the 
glacier  in  the  past.     Glaciers  affected  considerably  th<  In  many  pi 

of  Montana    hut  were  ,,f  u..  Importance  here      They  never  wrere  found  In 

our  mountains  or   in   the  Judith    liasin        In   general,   the   soil     Ol    the   Judith 


— 58— 

Basin  contain  more  potash,  phosphates  and  nitrates  than  is  usual  in  eastern 
soils  as  the  rainfall  is  not  enough  to  leach  them  out  so  completely. 

There  is  usually  less  difference  between  the  sub-soil  and  surface  soil 
of  the  arid  and  semi-arid  lands  of  the  west  than  in  regions  of  heavier  rain- 
fall especially  as  regards  the  content  of  nitrogen  in  the  form  of  humus. 
The  soils  of  many  parts  of  Fergus  County  are  deeper  than  the  average 
eastern  soil,  but  much  of  the  soil  on  the  benches  in  the  Basin  varies  from 
a  few  inches  to  a  few  feet  in  depth  and  is  underlain  by  a  limestone  gravel 
that  in  places  is  so  firmly  cemented  together  with  lime  as  to  be  impervious 
to  water.  The  nitrogen  content  of  these  bench  gravel  soils  decreases  con- 
sidrably  after  the  first  foot  in  depth.  Steady  cropping  of  grain,  especially 
where  burning  of  the  straw  is  practiced,  rapidly  exhausts  the  humus  in  the 
soil  and  the  crops  suffer  for  lack  of  nitrogen.  The  use  of  a  header  and 
combine  is  desirable  as  it  permits  the  return  of  most  of  the  straw  to  the 
soil,  which  is  an  advantage  unless  the  straw  is  so  heavy  that  it  cannot 
readily  be  plowed  under  the  ground.  Fresh  or  coarse  organic  matter  like 
unrotted  manure  and  long  straw  loosens  the  soil  and  frequently  injuries  it 
and  the  nitrogen  content  of  such  materials  is  not  available  until  humified. 
Experience  shows  that  summer  fallow  pays  in  Fergus  County  except  in 
the  foothills  and  very  porous  limestone  gravel  soils,  but  a  dust  mulch  on 
light  soil  promotes  blowing  by  the  wind  and  is  undesirable.  In  Fergus 
County  the  best  soil  amendments  would  seem  to  be  barnyard  manure,  green 
manure  crops,  and  crops  rotations  with  consequent  plowing  under  of  al- 
falsa  and  other  legumenous  crops.  It  should  be  mentioned,  however,  that 
agriculture  has  been  practiced  too  short  a  time  in  Fergus  County  to  exhaust 
the  plant  food  in  the  soil,  and  at  the  Moccasin  Experiment  Station  they 
have  yet  to  learn  of  a  profitable  return  from  the  application  of  barnyard 
manure  or  of  green  manure.  Continuous  grain  growing  will  ultimately 
exhaust  the  fertility  of  our  soils,  just  as  has  happened  in  the  Illinois 
prairies  and  the  Red  River  Valley.  The  leguminous  plants  constitute  the 
cheapest  form  of  renewing  the  nitrogen  content  of  the  soil.  Alfalfa  prob- 
ably is  the  best  crop  where  it  can  be  grown.  It  does  well  on  any  soil  ex- 
cept those  that  are  too  high  and  dry  or  are  water  soaked.  Alfalfa  is  even 
quite  alkali  resisting  once  it  has  reached  maturity.  In  Eastern  Fergus 
County  corn  and  field  peas  do  well  together  as  the  corn  exhausts  nitrogen 
from  the  soil  and  the  peas  return  it.     . 

Commercial  fertilizers  are  rarely  needed  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  will  pay 
to  add  it  to  soil  used  for  grain  farming.  The  keeping  of  livestock  in  con- 
nection with  grain  farming  and  the  resultant  return  to  the  soil  of  as 
much  of  the  valuable  fertilizers  as  possible  cannot  be  too  strongly  rec- 
ommended. Intelligent  farmers  maintain  the  content  of  minerals  in  the 
soil  required  for  plant  growth  at  a  high  figure. 


— 59 — 

CHAPTER  XL 

Geographic   Influences  in  Fergus   County. 

The  early  history  and  development  of  Fergus  County  has  been  consid- 
erably influenced  by  the  geography  and  geology  of  the  region. 

The  early  explorers  of  Montana,  De  La  Verendrye,  a  French  Canadian, 
and  Lewis  and  Clark  kept  to  the  Missouri  River  Valley,  as  they  used  boats 
for  their  journey.  Cabins  were  later  built  at  suitable  places  by  trappers, 
wolfers,  and  wood  cutters  who  supplied  steamboats  with  fuel.  Trading 
posts  were  built  at  the  mouth  of  the  Musselshell  and  Judith  Rivers,  but 
trouble  with  Indians  and  the  broken  character  of  the  surrounding  "bad- 
lands" caused  them  to  be  abandoned.  When  low  water  prevented  steam- 
boats from  reaching  Fort  Benton  cargoes  were  landed  at  Cow  Island 
and  hauled  across  the  Judith  Basin  to  Helena.  The  long  grass  of  the 
Judith  Basin  caused  many  teamsters  to  winter  their  bull  teams  in  Fergus 
County  before  the  seventies.  ' 

By  1880  several  hardy  pioneer  stockmen  had  driven  herds  of  sheep 
and  cattle  in  the  Basin,  and  miners  had  located  metal  deposits  in  the 
mountains,  and  Fergus  County  continued  to  be  chiefly  devoted  to  stock- 
raising  and  mining  for  the  next  25  years.  The  stockmen  settled  where 
there  was  living  water,  i.  e.  springs  or  running  streams,  for  their  herds. 
The  native  grass  in  the  Basin  was  long  and  often  reached  a  horse's  belly. 
The  usually  mild  winters  obviated  the  necessity  of  providing  much  hay  or 
shelter  for  the  stock.  Oats  and  hay  were  principally  raised  on  the  valley 
flats  and  were  very  often  irrigated.  General  farming  was  thought  practical 
only  in  the  foothills.  There  was  more  than  a  100-mile  drive  to  the  railroad 
from  most  parts  of  the  county,  which  fact  prevented  the  export  of  bulky 
products,  such  as  wheat.  The  hoofs  of  sheep  and  cattle  sufficed  to  carry 
them  to  the  railroad,  and  wool  was  very  valuable  for  its  weight;  so  the 
expense  of  hauling  it  was  relatively  small.  Hence  the  chief  exports  were 
fat  beef  cattle,  sheep,  lambs,  wool,  gold,  some  horses,  and  hides.  Some 
of  the  chief  difficulties  faced  by  the  stockmen  were  occasional  blizzards, 
,  and  severe  winter  that  froze  and  starved  their  stock  to  death.  Some- 
times dry  summers  caused  a  shortage  of  feed  and  water,  but  this  was  less 
common  than  in  most  of  Eastern  Montana.  Stock  "rustling"  was  not  a 
great  drawback,  as  the  "rustlers"  usually  had  few  chances  to  repeat  their 
offences.  The  homes  of  the  stockmen,  located  beside  streams  or  springs 
lor  the  sake  of  the  stock,  were  often  situated  in  a  broken  country  which 
provided  better  shelter  from  storms  than  the  level  benches.  Land  along 
the  Btreanis  was  early  homestead,  or  secured  by  desert  entries,  Bince  hay 
was  usually  grown  on  the  bottoms,  while  the  owner  controlled  the  water 

for   his   stock.      The    first    land    taken    up    in    Eastern    and    Northern    Fergus 

county  was  often  "badlands,"  which  contained  springs,  giving  the  owners 

virtual  Control  over  many  sections  of  free  gracing  land  Land  could  DC 
taken    up    as    homesteads,    desert     claims,    tree    Claims,    under    timber    and 

stone  act,  by  buying  from  the  state  and  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  and 

by  Soldier's  Additional  and  other  kinds  of  BCrip.  There  was  so  much  land 
thai  the  land  laws  were  often  laxly  enforced,  with  the  reSUll  that  many 
far-Sighted  men  secured  thousands  of  acr<  al  B  very  nominal  cost.  The 
first  stores,  saloons,  stage  stations,  ami  trading  posts  were  built  at  con- 
venient  camping    sites    or    close    to    mines    and    large    stock    ranches,    where 


—60— 

customers  would  be  easiest   to  secure,  as  Utica,  Lewistown,  Grass  Range, 
Maiden   and   Tyler. 

The  old  trails  were  located  in  the  easiest  and  shortest  practical  course 
between  towns.  Later  the  distance  between  towns  was  often  lengthened 
when  roads  were  shifted  to  section  lines.  An  old  Indian  trail  through  the 
Basin  led  through  Beaver  Creek  Gap,  this  was  followed  by  the  stage  road 
south  and  finally  by  the  railroad,  as  it  was  the  lowest  path  across  the  hills 
and  Beaver  and  Cottonwood  Creeks  to  Lewistown.  After  the  railroads 
came,  grain  growing  began  to  be  the  great  industry  of  the  county  and 
many  small  towns  sprang  up  at  convenient  distances  along  the  railroads 
as  grain  shipping  points  and  supply  centers.  Some  of  the  old  towns  and 
stage  stations  were  abandoned  in  favor  of  a  location  on  the  railroad,  as 
Philbrook  for  Hobson  and  as  old  Stanford  and  Garneill  for  their  present 
sites.  Lewistown  had  the  advantage  of  an  early  start  and  central  location. 
Its  citizens  were  progressive  and  possessed  initiative  and  hence  the  city 
has  maintined  and  even  increased  its  relative  importance  in  the  county. 

The  past  geological  history  of  Central  Montana  has  determined  the 
location  of  gold,  coal,  limestone  and  sapphire  deposits  and  half  a  dozen 
towns  resulted  from  the  location  of  the  mines,  as  Maiden,  Kendall,  Gilt 
Edge,  Hanover,  Lehigh  and  Yogo.  The  decomposition  of  the  rocks  sup- 
plies the  needed  fertilizers  in  the  soil  and  the  presence  of  the  mountains 
helps  increase  the  amount  of  rainfall.  It  was  thought  impossible  to  raise 
crops  without  irrigation  in  Fergus  County  in  the  early  days,  and  this 
erroneous  idea  delayed  farming  operations.  The  lack  of  experience  in  dry 
land  farming  and  the  great  distance  to  the  railroads  prevented  any  con- 
siderable agricultural  development  until  about  1904  and  1905  when  the 
completion  of  the  Montana  Railroad  enabled  the  farmers  to  ship  their 
wheat.  When  it  was  demonstrated  that  wheat  could  be  grown  in  the  Judith 
Basin  without  irrigation  thousand  of  homesteaders  came  into  the  county. 
The  Judith  Basin  cattle  ranches  were  replaced  by  wheat  farms  and  new 
towns  sprang  into  existence.  The  availability  of  the  land  for  grain  grow- 
ing has  caused  the  Milwaukee  to  build  lines  to  Great  Falls,  Winifred,  Roy 
and  Winnett,  and  is  the  determining  factor  in  the  Great  Northern  ex- 
tensions east,  but  the  Great  Northern  will  also  shorten  its  main  line  con- 
siderably by  this  new  route.  Grain  growing  was  unprofitable  until  rail- 
road construction  provided  a  market. 

Manufacturing  could  not  succeed  until  then,  either.  Manufacturing  is 
small  and  consists  of  cement,  gypsum,  brick,  flour,  butter,  etc.,  all  prod- 
ucts made  from  raw  materials  that  are  close  at  hand  and  for  which  a  local 
market  is  available.  The  railroads  have  resulted  in  thousand  of  home- 
steads being  taken  up  throughout  Fergus  County  as  a  market  was  provided 
for  the  agricultural  products.  The  increase  in  homesteads  has  gradually 
eliminated  most  of  the  free  range  and  the  large  stock  ranches  appear 
to  be  nearly  a  thing  of  the  past.  In  15  years  the  greater  part  of  Fergus 
County  has  been  homesteaded,  dozens  of  postoffices  and  over  a  score  of 
good  towns  and  cities  have  been  started.  The  railroads  have  made  this 
rapid  development  possible.  Without  railroads  there  might  have  been  a 
limited  export  of  wool  and  grain  by  the  Missouri  River  steamboats  and  the 
chief  wagon  roads  would  run  to  boat  landings  on  the  Missouri;  but  the 
railroads  caused  as  much  development  in  Fergus  County,  in  a  decade,  as 
would  have  resulted  in  a  century  without  them. 

Fergus  County  is  in  the  geographic  center  of  the  state.  In  the  early 
days  we  were  off  the  main  railroad  routes  to  the  north  and  south  and  were 


-61- 


at  a  disadvantage.  With  the  network  of  roads  built  in  Central  Montana 
in  the  last  few  years,  however,  this  central  location  will  have  in  increasingly 
favorable  influence  on  wholesaling,  retailing  and  manufacturing  in  Lewis- 
town  and  other  Fergus  County  cities.  The  Missouri  River  and  the 
'"breaks"  along  it  constitute  a  serious  barrier  for  trade  with  the  counties 
rorth,  ferrys  furnishing  the  only  means  of  crossing  it.  The  Musselshell  is 
not  a  serious  barrier,  especially  since  the  construction  of  a  bridge  across 
it  in  1918,  and  good  roads  north  across  the  Missouri  are  being  built. 

There  is  considerable  water  power  that  can  be  cheaply  utilized  near 
Lewistown,  and  in  the  future  will  be  a  favorable  factor  for  influencing  the 
location  of  manufacturing  plants. 

The  great  distance  from  chief  world  markets  will  probably  restrict 
manufacturing  in  Montana  to  those  things  for  which  there  is  a  local  de- 
mand and  that  can  be  made  from  raw  materials  locally  available,  especially 
such  things  as  do  not  require  a  large  number  of  skilled  operatives. 

In  agriculture  we  shall  see  fixed  farming  and  dairying  become  of  more 
importance.  When  Fergus  County's  farms  are  fully  developed  several 
times  the  present  number  of  inhabitants  can  live  comfortably  here,  and 
the  value  of  the  grain,  beef,  hogs,  and  wool  produced  will  be  many  times 
that  of  the  present  output. 


i 


■%U~t     1 1  I  I  I 


^^•npv-*-  \  ■ 


CKMKNT   PLANT  .VI    HANOVER. 


—6  2— 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Origin  of  the  Geographic  Names  in  Fergus  County. 

Alaska  Bench  named  from  its  winter  climate. 

Amherst,  the  railroad  station,  and  Acushnet,  the  P.  O.  nearby,  were 
named  for  New  England  towns. 

Armells  P.  O.  established  about  1913.  Armells  Creek  was  named  at 
an  early  date,  probably  by  the  trappers,  and  appears  on  the  map  of  Mon- 
tana  in    1870. 

Arrow  Creek,  town  named  from  Arrow  Creek,  founded  about  1913. 
Creek  named  in  days  of  freighters  and  was  on  map  of  Montana  in  1870. 
Arrow  Creek  Hill  through  the  badlands  was  a  famous  landmark  on  the  old 
Fort  Benton  stage  and  freight  road.  Arrow  Creek  was  named  by  an 
Indian  from  its  curving  course. 

Ashley,  named  for  the  rancher,  Eben  L.  Ashley,  who  established  a 
P.  O.  there  in  1915. 

Bear  Gulch,  near  Becket,  named  to  commemorate  a  large  bear  killed 
by  McCauley  there  in  the  spring  of  the  year. 

Blacktail  Gulch,  near  Becket,  named  for  deer  once  found  there. 

Becket,  founded  in  1915.  Named  by  railroad  officials  for  no  known 
reason. 

Beaver  Creek  still  has  many  beaver  dams  along  its  course.  Named  by 
the  trappers. 

Benchland,  named  from  the  character  of  the  farming  county  nearby. 
Founded  late  in  1907. 

Big  Snowy  Mountains,  named  by  the  trappers  from  the  heavy  snow  that 
usually  covers  the  mountains  and  often  lasts  until  well  into  summer. 

Black  Butte  was  a  landmark  of  the  trappers  and  freighters  and  was 
named  in  early  days  from  its  appearance,  as  viewed  from  Northern  and 
Eastern  Fergus  County. 

Blakeslee  P.  O.,  named  for  C.  E.  Blakeslee,  a  rancher.  Founded 
about  1914. 

Blood  Creek  was  named  by  the  trappers  probably  from  the  color  of  its 
water.     The  name  appears  on  a  map  of  Montana  in  1870. 

Box  Elder  Creek,  probably  named  from  boxelders  growing  beside  the 
stream.     On  map  of  Montana  in  1870,  hence  was  named  by  the  trappers. 

Brooks,  named  after  John  and  Henry  Brooks,  who  were  old-timers  in 
Fergus  County.  Henry  Brooks  managed  the  Horseshoe  Bar  Ranch  for  some 
years,  which  is  near  present  town  of  Brooks.     Founded  about  1913. 

Buffalo,  named  from  Buffalo  Creek  Valley  that  in  turn  was  named  after 
the  buffalo,  common  in  the  Basin  until  the  late  seventies.  Town  was 
founded  in   1907. 

Carroll,  named  for  Matt  Carroll,  an  old-timer  of  Helena.  It  was  a 
well-known  steamboat  landing  on  the  Missouri  a  short  distance  from  the 
present  P.  O.  of  Wilder.  When  the  river  was  at  a  low  stage  steamboats 
could  not  get  to  Benton  and  landed  their  cargoes  at  Carroll  from  which 
point  freighters  hauled  the  goods  across  the  Basin  to  Helena  for  distribu- 
tion to  the  mines.  Fort  Hawley  appears  on  the  map  of  1870,  a  few  miles 
east  of  Carroll,  but  nothing  is  known  about  it. 

Casino  Creek,  in  the  seventies  Peter  Koch  of  Bozeman  was  in  charge 
of  a  party  engaged  in  laying  out  the  old  Carroll  Road.     The  weather  was 


— 63 — 

bad  and  they  camped  some  time  on  one  of  the  creeks  and  the  men  played 
casino  and  named  the  creeks  Little  and  Big  Casino,  from  the  game. 

Casofour,  name  of  U.  S.  Gypsum  Company  plant  near  Heath.  Named 
from  chemical  formula  for  gypsum,  calcium  sulphate  (Ca  S  04),  the  ca 
standing  for  calcium,  S  for  sulphur,  and  04  the  amount  of  oxygen  present. 

Cat  Creek,  a  tributary  to  the  Musselshell,  appears  on  a  map  of  1870, 
and  was  named  by  the  trappers. 

Cheadle,  named  after  E.  K.  Cheadle,  a  lawyer  of  Lewistown. 
Founded  in  1915. 

Chippewa  Creek  was  named  in  1879  by  a  military  party  searching  for  a 
site  for  Fort  Maginnis.  The  party  was  accompanied  by  Richard  Doyle, 
nicknamed  "Chippewa."  One  evening  when  the  party  was  in  camp  on 
Chippewa  Creek,  Doyle  saw  a  jack  rabbit  in  silhouette  against  the  evening 
sky  and  made  great  haste  to  get  his  rifle  in  the  mistaken  belief  that  the 
animal  was  an  elk  and  the  creek  was  jokingly  named  in  his  honor. 

Christina,  named  after  Christina  Hilger,  wife  of  David  Hilger,  a 
pioneer  rancher  and  banker  in  Fergus  County.     Founded  late  in  1913. 

Coffee  Creek,  named  from  a  creek  of  the  same  name.  Founded  about 
1915.  Creek  was  named  because  of  the  color  of  the  water,  which  was 
very  dark  from  alkali. 

Cone  Butte  appears  on  a  map  of  1870  and  was  named  by  the  trappers 
from  its  appearance. 

Cottonwood  Creek,  named  from  occurrence  of  many  cottonwoods  along 
the  stream.     Named  by  the  trappers. 

Cow  Island  is  an  old  steamboat  landing  on  the  Missouri,  northeast  of 
Winifred,  near  the  present  ferry  across  the  river  at  the  Ruby  Gulch  Mining 
Company's  power  plant. 

Crooked  Creek  was  named  by  the  trappers  from  its  course  through  the 
badlands.  The  name  appears  on  the  may  of  1870.  Lewis  and  Clark 
named  the  stream  Sacajawea  Creek.  Little  Crooked  P.  O.  named  from 
the  creek. 

Crystal  Lake,  name  given  because  of  clearness  of  water  and  beauty  of 
reflections  of  the  mountains  upon  its  surface. 

Danvers,   founded   in   1913.     Named  Warwick   first  and  name  changed 
to  Danvers  Blnce  there  was  already  one  Warwick   in  the  state.    Name  suk 
gested  by  Mr.  C.  A.  Goodenow  of  the  Milwaukee  Railway  for  a  New  England 
town. 

Deerfield,  founded  in  1889  or  1890,  when  the  stage  road  was  built  from 
Lewistown  to  Fort  Benton.  Named  after  a  town  in  the  Middle  West  by 
E.  A.   Buson. 

ixTiton,  present  town  founded  late  in  1912.  Denton  was  original^ 
a  stage  station  on  the  old  LewistOWn-M'-ntnn  lload  on  the  ranch  of  Henry 
s.  Dent,  and  was  started  in  the  earl;  eighties. 

Dog  Creek,  named  in  the  days  of  the  trapper  and  la  on  the  map  <>f 
Montana  in  1870  as  Dog   River. 

Dovetail  Creeb  end  Dovetail  Bntte  were  named  by  1 1 1 « -  trappers.  i>ove- 
taii  Creek  appears  <>n  map  <>f  L870.     Dovetail  P.  O.  named  for  the  cre< 

Everson,  named  from  i:v<t's  ranch  thai  was  Located  about   L890,     Posl 
office  started  later. 

Fergus  Count;  named  after  the  pioneer,  Jams  i        Pergua  P    <> 

named   after   the   William    Pergu     family,    who  e    ranch    li    near    Armelli 


—64— 

Formerly   P.   O.    was   called    Roy,   later   moved   to   near   present   site,   when 
the  Peck  ranch  was  sold  on  which  Roy  P.  O.  was  located. 

Flatwillow  Creek  was  named  from  its  sluggish  current  contrasted  with 
its  chief  tributary,  called  Willow  Creek,  probably  from  the  trees  beside  it. 
Both  were  named  by  the  trappers  and  are  on  the  map  of  Montana  in  1870. 
Flatwillow  P.  O.  named  from  the  creek. 

Ford  Creek  is  an  old  name,  appears  on  land  office  maps  of  the 
seventies. 

Forestgrove,  founded  in  early  eighties.  Named  from  Forestgrove  ranch 
of  Tom  Frost,  probably  named  from  a  grove  of  cottonwoods  on  the 
ranch. 

Fort  Maginnis,  founded  by  the  U.  S.  Government  as  a  military  post  in 
1880.  Abandoned  1890.  Postoffice  still  called  by  that  name.  Named 
after  Major  Martin  Maginnis,  who  was  territorial  delegate  in  Congress 
for  several  years. 

Garneill  P.  O.,  founded  1899.  Named  from  Garnet  Courier,  later  wife 
of  William  Neill,  a  belle  of  the  vicinity,  who  promised  to  marry  William 
Neill  at  the  time  the  choice  of  a  name  for  a  new  school  district  came  up 
and  the  residents  chose  a  name  to  commemorate  the  circumstances.  There 
were  two  towns,  a  "dry"  and  a  "wet"  Garneill,  about  a  half  mile  part. 
When  the  Montana  railroad  was  built  in  1904,  both  the  towns  moved  to 
the  present  site  and  a  new  town,  the  third,  was  started. 

Geraldine,  in  Chouteau  County,  named  for  Mrs.  William  Rockefeller, 
mother  of  Percy  Rockefeller,  a  large  stockholder  in  the  C,  M.  &  St.  P. 
Railway. 

Gerhard,  named  after  N.  J.  Gerhard,  a  rancher.     Founded  about  1915. 

Glengary  was  founded  in  1907,  and  was  named  by  Angus  McMillan 
after  Glengary,  Scotland,  his  native  town. 

Grass  Range,  established  in  1881.  Named  from  ranch  country  about 
it.  It  was  a  stage  station  on  the  old  Fort  Maginnis  and  Junction  City 
Road.     Named  by  Frank  Chamberlain,  the  first  owner  of  the  ranch  there. 

Gilt  Edge,  founded  in  1893.  J.  T.  Armington  and  T.  E.  Collins  de- 
veloped the  mines  and  built  a  cyanide  mill.  It  was  named  after  the  Gilt 
Edge  Mining  Company,  which  in  turn  was  named  after  the  Gilt  Edge 
claim,   located  by  William   Wilson  in    1884. 

Half  Moon  Pass,  named  from  its  shape. 

Hanover,  founded  in  1916  because  of  gypsum  mill  built  there.  Named 
after  Hanover,  Germany,  where  cement  works  are  located. 

Haystack  Butte,  in  Northeastern  Fergus  County,  named  from  shape  by 
freighters  or  trappers.     Names  appears  on  may  of   1870. 

Heath,  named  after  Perry  Heath,  a  rancher.     Founded  about  1912. 

Highwood  Mountains,  named  from  timber  formerly  covering  moun- 
tains. Name  appear  on  may  of  1870  and  was  given  to  them  by  the 
trappers. 

Hilger,  named  after  David  Hilger  of  Lewistown,  formerly  a  prominent 
rancher  of  Northern  Fergus  County.     Founded  1913. 

Hobson,  founded  in  1907.  Named  after  S.  S.  Hobson,  once  prominent 
rancher  and  banker  of  Fergus  County,  now  living  in  Great  Falls. 

Hoosac,  named  from  the  tunnel  on  the  Milwaukee  Railroad.  Founded 
in  1913.      Named  after  Hoosac  Tunnel  of  New  England. 

Houck  Siding,  named  after  J.  C.  Houck,  a  prominent  rancher  of  the 
Judith  River  country. 

Jones,  founded  about  1908.     Named  after  William  Jones,  a  rancher. 


— 6  5 — 

Judith  River,  named  by  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1805,  after  Julia  Hancock 
of  Virginia,  later  wife  of  Captain  Clark.  She  was  nicknamed  Judith.  The 
name  Judith  Basin  was  applied  to  land  in  the  vicinity  of  Judith  River. 
Judith  Mountains,  derived  from  vicinity  of  Judith  Basin.  Judith  P.  O. 
established  in  1885.  An  old  fort  was  built  near  the  mouth  of  the  Judith 
River  in  the  forties  and  later  in  the  sixties  and  seventies  soldiers  were 
stationed  here  during  periods  of  navigation  on  the  Missouri,  and  the  lo- 
cation was  called  Camp  Cooke.  Camp  Cooke  was  first  military  post  in  Mon- 
tana, started  1866  when  low  water  prevented  soldiers  reaching  Fort  Ben- 
ton. Power's  built  Fort  Claggett  in  1871,  but  abandoned  it  later.  The 
place  was  called  Claggett  until  about  1890.  Named  for  William  H.  Clag- 
gett, one  of  the  early  delegates  in  Congress  from  Montana. 

Kachia,  founded  in  1915.  A  seed  catalog  was  consulted  to  find  a  name 
for  the  new  postoffice,  and  Kochia  was  chosen,  but  was  misread  in  the 
department  at  Washington  and  the  name  came  back  Kachia. 

Kelly  was  founded  in  1916.  Named  for  Harry  Kelly,  receiver  of  the 
land  office  at  Lewistown. 

Kendall  was  started  in  1898  after  the  discovery  of  gold  there.  Named 
after  the  late  Harry  T.  Kendall. 

Kolin,  founded  in  1912.  Named  by  Bohemian  settlers  in  vicinity  for  a 
town  in  Bohemia. 

Lehigh,  founded  in  1915  as  a  coal  mining  town.  Named  after 
Lehigh,  Pa. 

Lewistown,  derived  from  Camp  Lewis,' an  old  camping  site  at  junction  of 
Big  Casino  and  Sprink  Creek,  near  brewery.  Never  visited  by  Captain  Lewis. 
Trading  post  built  in  18  73  but  moved  about  two  miles  down  the  creek  in 
1875.  Another  store  built  on  present  site  of  town  in  1879.  Reed's  Fort 
P.  O.  established  in  1880.  Present  name  adopted  a  few  years  thereafter 
by  F.  A.  Janeaux  when  he  laid  out  the  townsite  of  Lewistown  on  his 
ranch. 

Lindstrom  P.  O.  established  in  1913.  Named  after  the  rancher  who 
runs  the  store  and  P.  O. 

Little  Belt  Mountains  is  an  old  name.  Probably  named  by  the  trappers 
from  the  long  stretch  of  the  mountains  along  the  skyline.  Bell  Butte, 
near  the  city  of  Belt,  was  named  for  a  thick  bed  of  white  volcanic  ash  that 
crops  out  like  a  band  around  It.  Bell  Creek  and  the  city  of  Bell  wen 
named  from  the  stream  and  the  mountains  may  ha\e  I n  named  from  tin- 
creek  that  rises  in  them.  Little  Belt  Mountains  City  appears  on  the  map 
of  Montana  in  1870,  a  few  miles  west  of  Carroll,  but  nothing  could  be 
learneii  of  it. 

Little  Simwy  Mountains,  name  was  used  by  the  trappers  to  designate 

the  rough,  wooded  country  east    and   northeast    Ol  the   Big  Snowy  .Mounl.-i 

Maiden,    founded    In    L880,    when    gold    was   dl  d     and    there   art 

many  different   stories  about  the  naming  of  the  town.     Frank   D    Finlaw, 
of  New  Year,  states  thai  a  hand  of  Indians  was  camped  below   the  mine 
and  the  miners  always  talked  of  calling  on  "the  dusky  maidens,"  and  the 
town  teas  named  from  tins.     Mrs.  Connelly,  however,  wife  of  Jim  Connolly, 

an  early  miner   in    Maiden,   was  the   first    woman   living  there   and  the 

camp  was  named  for  iter  daughter      Another  version  Is  that  it  was  named 
after  the  daughter  of  a  Mr.  Sweeney,  who  was  the  first   child  born  thi 

Sweeney    is   said    to    have    located    in    the    mountain      before    'lie    mines    were 


— 66— 

found.      William   Culver,  of  Lewistown,   the   first   photographer  at  Maiden, 
states  that  the  name  was  selected  by  Al  Brundage,  an  old-timer. 

McDonald  Creek.  On  map  of  Montana  in  1870,  and  was  named  for 
llonry  McDonald,  a  Canadian  Scotchman,  now  living  in  New  York.  He 
carried  mail  from  Rocky  Point  to  Helena  and  received  $20  per  day  for  it, 
due  to  danger  from  the  Indians.  In  the  late  sixties  McDonald  helped  a 
band  of  Crow  Indians  defeat  a  band  of  Sioux  Indians  on  McDonald  Creek 
?nd  the  creek  was  named  to  commemorate  this.  The  Indians  were  fight- 
ing over  the  possession  of  about  3,000  horses.  He  laid  out  several  gov- 
ernment roads,  including  one  from  Rocky  Point  to  Helena.  Later  he  set- 
tled on  Cottonwood,  60  miles  from  Lewistown,  near  Square  Butte,  and 
later  disposed  of  this  place  to  Ole  Osnes. 

Merino,  named  from  the  high-grade  sheep  pastured  nearby,  and  was 
started  about  1908.  There  was  a  stage  station  near  the  present  site  of 
Harlowton  named  Merino  in  the  eighties. 

Moccasin,  named  from  Moccasin  Mountains,  founded  in  1907.  There 
was  an  old  Moccasin  P.  O.  and  stage  station  below  the  Horseshoe  Bar 
ranch  at  the  crossing  of  Warm  Spring  Creek  by  the  Fort  Benton  Road. 
Postoffice  abandoned  after  the  Montana  Railroad  was  built,  and  name  was 
adopted  for  present  town. 

Moccasin  Mountains  were  named  perhaps  from  their  general  shape, 
which  resembles  a  moccasin.  Named  by  the  old  trappers  before  the  country 
was  settled. 

Moore,  named  after  a  Philadelphia  financier  who  helped  finance  the 
Montana  Railroad.     Founded  in  1904. 

Musselshell  River,  named  by  Lewis  and  Clark  from  shells  found  in 
the  stream. 

N.  Bar  Ranch  was  first  started  in  1880  by  Linn  and  W.  T.  McFarland, 
assistants  to  W.  W.  DeLacey,  a  surveyor,  as  a  sheep  ranch.  The  capital 
was  furnished  by  W.  C.  Childs,  a  Wells-Fargo  agent,  who  later  took 
over  the  ranch,  and  it  was  called  the  Child  ranch.  Later  it  was  bought  by 
Thomas  Cruse  and  named  the  N.  Bar  and  became  one  of  the  famous  cattle 
ranches  of  Montana. 

Natal,  founded  about  1908.  Probably  named  after  the  South  African 
country. 

New  Year,  named  from  New  Year  mine,  located  by  A.  D.  Harmon  on 
New  Year's  day  in  late  eighties. 

Novary,  named  after  the  Novary  products  of  a  wholesale  company  in 
Lewistown.      Founded  as  Wint  about  1915.      Name  changed  in  1917. 

Pinegrove,  named  from  pine  forested  hills  about  the  postoffice.  Found- 
ed about   1900. 

Philbrook,  founded  about  1881.  Named  by  E.  J.  Morrison  after  the 
maiden  name  of  Mr.  Morrison's  mother.  The  first  storekeeper  at  the  Fort 
Benton  and  White  Sulphur  Springs  crossing  of  the  Judith  was  J.  L.  Clegg, 
who  soon  sold  out  to  Morrison.  Site  abandoned  in  favor  of  Hobson,  four 
miles  down  the  river,  when  the  Great  Northern  was  built  in  1907. 

Piper,  named  after  Harley  Piper,  a  rancher.     P.  O.  started  in  1916. 
Plum   Creek,   named   from   a  grove  of  wild   plum   trees       P.   O.   estab- 
lished a  few  years  ago. 

Pownal,  named  for  a  New  England  town. 


— 67 — 

Rock  Creek,  name  results  from  stony  bed  along  part  of  its  course. 

Ross  Fork,  founded  about  1912.  Named  after  Ross  Fork  of  Judith 
River,  which  in  turn  was  named  in  the  days  of  the  trapper,  probably  after 
an   old   trapper. 

Roy,  founded  in  1892  at  the  ranch  of  W.  H.  Peck,  who  aimed  to  call  the 
P.  O.  Ray,  but  due  to  a  mistake  at  Washington,  it  was  called  Roy.  Present 
town  of  Roy  is  seven  miles  from  the  old  Peck  ranch,  and  was  founded  in 
1913.  Postoffice  moved  to  about  two  miles  of  the  present  site,  when  Peck 
ranch  was  sold  and  later  moved  when  railroad  was  built. 

Sacajawea  Creek,  named  by  Lewis  and  Clark  after  the  Indian  woman 
guide,  now  called  Crooked  Creek.  An  attempt  was  made  to  change  the 
name  by  legislative  action  back  to  Sacajawea  Creek  during  the  Lewis  and 
Clark  Exposition.  The  bill  passed  the  house  of  representatives  at  Helena 
but  was  killed  in  the  senate  when  the  sponsors  of  the  bill  were  asked 
lo  pronounce  the  name  and  were  unable  to  do  so. 

Sage  Creek,  named  from  sagebrush  along  it. 

Sapphire,  named  after  sapphire  mines.  Mines  located  by  Jacob 
Hoover,  S.  S.  Hobson  and  Dr.  J.  A.  Bovet  about  1894. 

Smith,  founded  about  1915.  Named  for  Sam  Smith,  who  owned  the 
ranch  where  the  P.  O.  was  established. 

Square  Butte,  named  from  precipitous  sides  and  square  edge  of  the 
mountain.  Round  Butte,  between  Square  Butte  and  the  Highwoods,  named 
from  its  shape.     This  is  called  Palisade  Butte  on  the  U.  S.  G.  S.  map. 

Stanford,  named  from  Old  Stanford  that  was  an  old  stage  station  and 
cow  town,  founded  about  1880.  Present  town  founded  in  1907,  when  the 
Great  Northern  Railroad  was  built,  and  is  located  about  two  miles  from 
the  old  site.  Another  P.  O.  called  Dubuque  existed  on  the  site  of  Old 
Stanford  on  T.  E.  Morgan's  ranch.  Name  was  changed  after  Morgan 
died  and  the  Stanford  P.  O.  was  moved  to  the  site  of  Dubuque.  Stanford, 
named  from  Stanford,  N.  Y.,  by  the  Bower  Bros.,  who  settled  on  Surprize 
Creek  in  1880.  The  first  P.  O.  was  on  Baylis  &  Robley's  ranch,  later 
owned  by  Col.  T.  A.  Vial  and  at  present  by  the  Long  Investment  Co. 

Straw  was  founded  in  1904.  Named  after  W.  O.  Straw  of  Bethel, 
Maine,  who  formerly  owned  a  ranch  that  included  the  site  of  the  town. 
Montana  Railroad  called  a  station  Ada  at  the  site  of  Straw  until  P.  O. 
was   established. 

Surprize  Creek,  named  from  the  fact  that  when  first  found  it  flowed 
across  a  prairie  and  could  not  be  seen  until  one  was  close  to  it. 

Suffolk,  founded  in  1914.  Name  chosen  by  C.  A.  Goodenow,  assistant 
to  the  president  of  the  C,  M.  &  St.  P.  Railroad,  after  a  town  in  New 
England.  The  first  name  chosen  was  Swope,  after  a  pioneer,  but  this  was 
soon    changed. 

Teigfui.  named  after  M.    P.    Teigen.     Pounded  In   i!M4. 

TWO  Calf  Creek,  named  in  days  of  free  range 

Tyler,  named  after  Charles  Tyler,  a   rancher.     Founded   about   1900. 

Ubet,  founded  about   1881   as  a  stage  station,  one  and  one-half  milos 
from    Garneill.      Named    after    following    occurrence:      A.    R.    Barrows   and 
wife  set   a  good   table   and   many   stopped    Over   night.      When    Judge    San 
ders,  a  Republican,  was  campaigning  for  territorial  delegate  against  Major 
Martin  Maginniss  he  stayed   over  night   at    the    Harrows  ranch  and  Bounded 


— 68— 

Bome  teamsters  about  their  politics,  but  found  they  were  all  Democrats. 
When  asked  if  they  would  like  to  sample  the  contents  of  a  brown  jug 
they  exclaimed,  "You  Bet!"  He  replied,  "You  bet  this  is  only  for  Repub- 
licans." and  drove  off.  A  postoffice  was  soon  after  established  and  was 
named  from  the  Sanders  incident,  as  Barrows  wanted  a  short  name  for 
the  P.  O.  as  he  had  had  experience  with  towns  with  long  names  and  he 
knew  they  took  a  lot  of  time  to  write. 

Utica,  founded  in  1879.  Named  from  Utica,  New  York.  Chosen  by 
Joe  Culling,  the  first  postmaster  there.  Culling  was  from  Utica,  New 
York,  and  ran  the  first  store  there,  which  had  been  established  by  J.  D. 
Weatherwax,  an  old  freighter.  Mr.  T.  J.  Waddell  of  Stanford  states  that 
the  postoffice  was  established  March  5,  1881. 

Valentine,  founded  about  1914.  Named  after  Valentine  Springs, 
which  was  named  by  freighters  and  hunters,  or  by  the  first  owner  of  the 
property. 

War  House  Lake,  named  by  Walter  Winnett  from  Indian  war  houses, 
built  in  timbered  by  the  shore  of  the  lake.  They  were  built  of  pitch  pine 
logs  and  Winnett  used  them  in  fencing  his  ranch. 

War  House  Butte,  north  of  Teigen,  at  the  head  of  Bear  Creek,  was 
named  from  a  battle  that  occurred  at  that  place  between  two  hostile  bands 
of  Indians.  One  party  strongly  fortified  the  Butte  with  log  war  houses 
that  were  too  strong  to  be  successfully  attacked  by  the  other  party,  which 
retired. 

Ware,  named  for  a  New  England  town  by  the  Milwaukee  officials. 

Weede,  postoffice  founded  in  1901.  Named  after  Ed  Weede,  a  rancher 
of  that  vicinity. 

Wild  Horse  Lake,  name  originated  before  the  days  of  the  free  range, 
from  a  band  of  wild  horses  in  the  vicinity,  often  caught  by  the  first 
settlers. 

Windham,  founded  in  1907  when  the  Great  Northern  was  built.  Named 
from  Windham  County,  Vermont,  the  birthplace  of  L.  H.  Hamilton  of  the 
Sage  Creek  Sheep  Co.,  whose  ranch  included  the  site  of  Windham. 

Winifred,  named  after  the  eldest  daughter  of  Mr.  Percy  Rockefeller, 
on  of  the  largest  stockholders  in  the  Milwaukee  Railroad.  Postoffice  es- 
tablished December  8,  1913. 

Winnett,  named  after  Walter  J.  Winnett,  a  prominent  rancher  who 
had  a  ranch  there  since  the  eighties.  Postoffice  established  in  1910. 
Town  lots  were  sold  July  18,  1914. 

Wolf  Creek,  named  in  the  early  days.  Running  Wolf  flows  the  year 
around;  Dry  Wolf  usually  fails  to  flow  in  the  winter.  Possibly  named  by 
Lewis  and  Clark  or  at  least  by  some  of  the  first  fur  traders. 

Yogo.  Gold  discovered  there  in  1879,  but  abandoned  a  few  years  later. 
It  is  an  Indian  name,  the  literal  meaning  of  which  would  not  look  well 
translated   into   English.      Named   by  Jake   Hoover. 


H 
05 


-70— 


INDEX 


Page. 

Amherst  12,   62 

Anticlines,    Southeastern    Fer- 
gus   Co 40 

Mountains    46 

Argentite   16 

Armells    13,   62 

Creek   10 

Mines   30 

Arrow  Creek  12,   62 

Badlands    10 

Becket    62 

Bench  10 

Benchland    12,   62 

Belt    Series    22 

Big   Snowy   Mts 9,   62 

Big    Spring    Creek 10,   47 

Black  Butte  9,   62 

Box   Elder   10,   62 

Brick    and    Clay 44 

Brooks  62 

Buffalo  12,   62 

Calcite   19 

Cambrian   Formations   22 

Carbonates    19 

Carboniferous    Formations 23 

Carroll  10,   62 

Casino  Creek  62 

Caves   48 

Chalcopyrite   17 

Cheadle    14,   63 

Chlorides  18 

Christina    13,   63 

Climate   of    Fergus    Co 51 

Coal    37 

Coffee  Creek  12,   63 

Copper 17,   20,   30 

Cretaceous  System  24,     25 

Crooked  Creek  10,   63 

Crystal    Lake    48,   50,   63 

Cumberland  Mine  30 

Danvers    12,   63 

Deerfield    63 

Denton  12,   63 

Devonian  Formations  22 

Dikes    16,   48 

Dover  13 

Elements    16 

Feldspar    20 

Fergus    Co. — Area    and    Loca- 
tions    9 

Altitude   9 

Mountains    9 

Organized   11 

Rivers   9 

Settlement  11,    59 

Population  12 

Origin — Name  64 

Soil    56 

Geographic    Influences 59 

Climate    51 

Water    54 

Surface  Features  46 


Page. 

Flatwillow    14,  64 

Creek   10 

Fluoride  18 

Forest  Grove  14,  64 

Fort    Maginnis    11,  64 

Freighters    10,  59 

Galena    16 

Garneill    12,  64 

Geographic   Influences   59 

Geographic  Names,  Origin  of..  62 

Geology  of   Fergus  Co 22 

Geological   History   26 

Gilt  Edge  13,  64 

Mines 31 

Glengary    12,  64 

Gold   16,    28,  34 

Grass   Range   ...14,  64 

Ground    Water    54 

Gypsum  17,   18,  42 

Hanover  13,  64 

Hematite    18 

Hilger   13,  64 

Hobson  12,  64 

Hoosac  12,  64 

Ice  Caves  49 

Igneous  Intrusions  15 

Irrigation  55 

Judith  Basin,  Settlement  of.... 10,  59 

Judith  Gap 9 

Judith   Rivers   10,  65 

Jurassic   Rocks   24 

Kachia   65 

Kendall    13,  65 

Mines   34 

Kolin    13,  65 

Laccoliths  15,  46 

Lead  16,    19,   30,  36 

Lehigh    13,  65 

Lewistown  11,   12,  65 

Limestone  and  Portland  Ce- 
ment      43 

Limonite    19 

Little  Belt  Mts.,  Mines 36 

Origin  of  Name 65 

McDonald  Creek  Divide 9 

McDonald   Creek  10,  66 

Maginnis    Mine    30 

Maiden  13,  65 

Mines   29,  30 

Merino   13,  66 

Metal    Deposits    28 

Minerals  in  Fergus  Co 16 

Moccasin  12,   13,  66 

Moore    12,  66 

Musselshell    9,  66 

New  Year  66 

Mines   31 

North  Moccasin  Mts.,  Mines....  34 

Novary   14,  66 

Origin     Surface     Features     of 

Fergus  Co 46 


-71- 


INDEX   ^CONTINUED) 


Page. 

Petroleum   and  Natural  Gas....  46 

Picturesque  Fergus  Co 46 

Potash    44 

Pre-Cambrian    Rocks    22 

Production  of   Minerals 36 

Pyrite  17 

Quadrant  Formation  23 

Quarternary  Deposits  25 

Quartz    18 

Railroads  11,  12 

Rainfall   of  Fergus   Co 53 

Replacement    Deposits    28 

Rocks  in  Fergus  Co 15 

Ross    Fork 10,    13,  67 

Roy   13,  67 

Sandstone   44 

Sapphire    18,   42,  67 

Silicates   20 

Silver  16,  30 

Smith   14,  67 

Soil  and  Its  Effect  on  Agricul- 
ture      56 

Spalerite   16 

Spotted  Horse  Mine 29 


Page. 

Stanford    13,  67 

Steamboats  on  Missouri 10. 

Straw   12,  67 

Suffolk  13,  67 

Sulphates  17,  18 

Sulphides    and    Tellurides 16 

Sulphur    16 

Sylvanite    17 

Teigen    14,  67 

Tertiary  Formations  25 

Topaz  20,  42 

Trappers   and   Traders 10 

Traventive   25 

Tyler    14,  67 

Ubet  67 

Utica   12,  68 

Valentine  13,  68 

Ware  12,  68 

War  House  Lake 68 

Warm  Spring  49 

Creek   10 

Windham  13,  68 

Winifred   13,  68 

Winnett    14,  68 

Yogo  11,  68 


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